Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.14/ Trend T.Jafarov, F.Milad/
Reza Taqizadeh, the member of the council of experts at the Trend Agency as well as the energy expert in Glasgow, believes that the U.S. decision to identify Iranian tankers will not stop them.
In an interview with the Trend Agency, Taqizadeh said that the U.S. decision to identify Iranian tankers, pursue their registration and change the flag will certainly make exporting crude oil by the Islamic Republic and getting around the sanctions more difficult, but it will not be a means to stop or seize the tankers.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Treasury identified the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), 58 of its vessels and 27 of its affiliates as extensions of the state, which would undermine Iran's attempts to use renamed, disguised vessels to evade sanctions.
The identifications would help countries and foreign companies comply with Western penalties against Iran.
Due to the fact that Iran's exports of crude oil have decreased by some one million barrels per day during the past six months compared to the same period last year, the U.S. move will not be so effective, Taqizadeh said.
According to an OPEC report, Iran's oil output hit 3.706 million barrels per day in 2010. The output fell to 3.382 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2012. The decline is continuing, so that the output is currently below three million barrels per day.
Taqizadeh said that the Iranian tanker fleet, which used to carry a lion's share of export-bound Iranian crude oil, is now being turned into a storage facility of more than 30 million barrels of crude oil. So, the need to services of Iranian tankers has decreased due to the fall in crude oil exports.
Once Iran's oil output falls by 500,000 barrels within the next six months, Iranian tankers will become useless, because there will be no oil for exports considering the volumes of production and consumption, according to Taqizadeh.
The EU sanctions took effect on July 1 against the Central Bank of Iran, imports of crude oil from Iran, as well as issuance of insurance policies for Iranian ships.
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