Iran says oil price rally offsetting U.S. sanctions impact

By  Trend

A senior Iranian official says the recent rise in oil prices has offset the impact of US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, with the country’s oil revenues up 16 percent in the past six months, Press TV reported.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to squeeze Iran’s oil exports down to a trickle, pushing oil prices to levels not seen since 2014.

“Trump thought he could shrink our country’s oil revenues by imposing sanctions on Iran’s oil and cutting its exports, but the rise in oil prices did not let that happen,” Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization, said Thursday.

He said the budget for the current fiscal year has been drawn up on the basis of an oil price of $55 a barrel, but the country's sales have averaged $70 a barrel so far.

The government also expected to sell 2.4 million barrels per day of oil during the current Iranian calendar year, which started in mid-March, but it exported 2.5 barrels in reality, he said.

Oil prices remain at four-year highs on rising doubts about the capability of Saudi Arabia and other producers to substitute Iran’s crude after the US imposes new sanctions on the country on November 4.