Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
All oil refineries in the world need Iran's sour crude oil, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, former representative of Iran in OPEC said.
The sanctions imposed on Iranian oil can create additional expenses for some customers buying it, Khatibi added, Trend reports referring to Young Journalists Club (YJC).
Khatibi added that Asian customers prefer to buy Iranian oil.
If Iranian oil is not supplied to the world markets, the low-quality oil and shortage of oil will be observed there, he said.
Khatibi added that some countries think that if Iranian oil is not supplied to the world markets, there will be no problem because an alternative to the Iranian oil will be found.
For this purpose, these countries offer that the US should increase shale oil production, he said.
He added that in reality, shale oil must be mixed with sour crude oil for using in all oil refineries and at the US oil refineries as well.
According to the US government’s decision, the market needs Iran's crude oil, he said.
Therefore, if the Iranian and Venezuelan oil is not supplied to the world markets, this will result in an increase in the volume of low quality oil in those markets and the oil market will face big problems in this regard, he said.
He said that the non-prolongation of the exempt period to eight countries will lead to an increase in expenses for oil importers and consumers, primarily for the US, Asian and European importers.
Khatibi said that European companies do not want an increase in expenditure. As the purchase of oil that is subject to the sanctions entails expenses, European companies will be looking for the oil that is not subject to the sanctions.
He said that Iran's main partners, including Japan, South Korea, India and Turkey, have broad trade relations with Iran.
If these countries do not buy oil from Iran, Iran will not buy their products either, he added.
Khatibi said that Iran has always exported oil during the period of sanctions. He added that there are a variety of ways to avoid sanctions and its details must not be disclosed to the media outlets.
The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018. The US exempted eight countries for six months from oil sanctions imposed on Iran. These countries continue to buy oil from Iran. This exempt period will end on May 2. The US announced that it will not extend the exempt period.