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interests. Another analyst from Global FX, said he expected prices to hit $160 a barrel in the event of a Hormuz blockade, following a warning from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that they might close the chokepoint as it must be “for all or for no one,” as reported by news agency Tasnim.
Following the Iranian comments on Hormuz oil prices jumped. By midday Central European Time on July 11, Brent was trading at $76.85. US president Donald Trump has also threatened to replace Iran’s roughly 2mn b/d of oil production with Saudi Arabian oil. Those calls panicked the market and the price has been higher than its six-month average of around $60 in recent days.
Chinese oil importers are committed to purchasing orders from Iran despite the upcoming imposition of sanctions by the US in August, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on July 10, citing JTD Energy Services. The US is pressuring Asian and African states to decrease oil imports from Iran. Countries including India, Japan and Turkey have said they will continue to buy from Iran.
John Driscoll, Director of JTD Energy Services, said that China does not care about US President Donald Trump's remarks and threats, Chinese websites quoting the expert said earlier this week.
Although China, India, South Korea and Japan are the US main targets, national interests are the first those countries will take into consideration, Driscoll said. In the case of Japan, several of the country’s refineries are set up only to take Iranian oil. The news of big exporters of Iranian oil rejecting US threats comes as Iran’s exports are expected to drop by 500,000 b/d as sanctions come into effect from August, Mehr News Agency reported.
Up to 20mn litres of petroleum are to be exported daily from Iran when the Persian Gulf Star Refinery starts operating at full capacity in the next few months, official energy news agency SHANA reported Mohammad-Taqi Sadatipour, managing director of Petro Gohar Farasahel Kish (PGFK), as saying on July 24.
Although the US blockade on nearly all Iranian crude and oil product exports is looming, Iran continues to work on plans to become a petrol exporter by shipping Euro-5 quality fuel from the new refinery to regional countries including neighbours Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Sadatipour said Iran imported 60mn litres of petrol last year. Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran was closer to its goal of self-sufficiency in petrol production following the inauguration of the second phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
"When under threat of sanctions by our enemy, if we control and reduce our domestic consumption of petrol... we can say that we are self-sufficient in fuel production," Rouhani said in a televised speech.
Iran's Persian Gulf Star Refinery converts light crude, known as condensate, into gasoline and naphtha. The new phase’s completion means it should now be capable of producing 24mn litres of petrol per day.
Plans to raise oil extraction at Iran’s southerly North Yaran field have been boosted by the installation of a new and modern pump, official energy news agency SHANA reported on July 23. The Yaran fields in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf make up one of the newest oil discoveries in Iran. Parts of the fields—South Yaran is shared with Iraq—have been under development for several years but a lack of investment has slowed down progress. Iran is operating North Yaran at a production rate of 30,000 b/d of crude, which pales in comparison to the rates achieved with larger fields located near the Persian Gulf.
38 IRAN Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com