Sanctions do nada to Iranian oil

The US continues striving hard to squeeze Iran into submission, some of the biggest oil purchasers are being showed the Washington stick, the EU embargo is now nearly three months old, you’d expect Iran’s fiscal reservoir to scream out with barrenness. However, the reality is – if the numbers being posted be Iranian export, and the voice generated by the hierarchy in Tehran are anything to go by – the effect of the US sanctions on Tehran is a grand total of nada.
The Iranian hierarchy is adamant that the Western sanctions are doing zilch in terms of creating problems for the Iranian oil industry, since the oil is supplied to markets all over the globe, and the traditional buyers are resisting the Western pressure. If anything the sanctions are making the world realize that they simply can’t do with taking a massive chunk of global oil produce out of the market, since there is no apposite substitute for Iranian oil. And the crude prices that have been soaring of late vindicate the position and importance of Tehran as the principal supplier in the global crude market.
It is being observed that Tehran is having no problem in selling its oil and that the crude export is on the rise, which is paving way for a currency influx. The primary reason why Iran has managed to, and continues to, dodge the sanctions bullet is because it has found numerous ways to insure its crude oil tankers to the Asian countries which has meant that the nation has forestalled any legal maneuvers that could potentially throw a decisive spanner into the oil works. A lack of insurance – apart from the oh so daunting Washington stick of course – was seen as possibly the only thing that could discourage leading companies from oil trade with Iran, and now that that base has been covered, Tehran looks all healthy and upbeat to play ball.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) had recently reported a fall in oil production from Tehran this year, which has been categorically rebuffed by Rostam Qasemi, the Iranian oil minister. Tehran produced around 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) last year if them OPEC figures are to be believed and the minister is adamant that similar numbers would be posted this time round as well – a claim that is being vindicated by the recent export hike and the juxtaposition of numbers from the same time last year.
Washington is continuing to put pressure on the Iran’s main oil customers, China, India, Japan and South Korea to “seek other suppliers”. But no heed is being paid, or damn being given, so to speak with regards to these sanctions – probably since “other suppliers” of similar mould and volume don’t exactly exist, now do they?
A baffling double standard, worth highlighting here is the bias in the ostensibly global sanctions that would even put the customary American prejudice to shame. Both South Korea and Japan – strategic American chums – have been exempted from the
US sanctions, since they would have trouble filling in the oil void, more so than the rest of the countries apparently.
So while the US makes a mockery of its foreign policy, Iran sits pretty flaunting promising export numbers, the oil price is set to soar stampeding over the $150 per barrel mark this winter. The demand for energy sources would rise as the temperature falls and with no plausible substitute present to make up the galleons even the $150 mark would be a miracle, if the price per barrel stays there or thereabouts.