Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated Moscow's commitment to an agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on keeping production at a certain level, saying his country will not immediately increase oil output after the United States ends sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian crude next month.
“Russia is ready to meet the needs of not just China, but of all our partners around the world,” Putin told reporters on the sidelines of a summit in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Saturday, adding, “We currently produce 1.5 million barrels of oil per day and we can produce more. We have colossal potential.”
“But we have an agreement with OPEC to maintain production at a certain level and this agreement is in force until July,” the Russian president pointed out.
The administration of US President Donald Trump said in a statement on April 22 that, in a bid to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero, buyers of Iranian oil must stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers — Turkey, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan –to continue importing limited volumes.
“The United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates … along with our friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied,” the White House statement said, adding, “We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market.”
In May last year, Washington unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers that mainly guarantees Iran’s oil sales in return for a number of concessions by Iran and the lifting of US sanctions on the country.
Last November, the US enforced sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s banking and energy sector. However, it granted waivers to the eight major importers of Iran’s oil, fearing market instability.
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The end of the sanctions exemptions has sparked fears of supply shortages, pushing oil prices to near six-month highs.
Countries affected by the US sanctions have so-far opposed the declared plan to end exemptions, citing tight market conditions and high fuel prices that are harming oil-dependent industries.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said on Friday that his country is trying to convince the United States to allow refiner Tupras, its biggest oil importer, to continue buying crude oil from Iran free of sanctions.
China also warned on Tuesday that the US decision to impose sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil will “intensify turmoil” in the Middle East and in the international energy market.
South Korea and Japan have also sought negotiations with the US, calling on Washington to backtrack on its decision.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin said he “can't imagine how the world energy market will react” at the end of the waivers in May.
However, the Russian president added, “None of our partners, including Saudi Arabia, is withdrawing from our agreements within OPEC.”
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday played down Washington’s recent decision to end exemptions from sanctions for countries buying oil from Tehran and said the US administration’s hostile attempts to block Iran’s oil sales will lead nowhere, and that the country will export “as much crude as it needs and wishes” in defiance of American sanctions.
“In the first place, such attempts will lead nowhere, and we are capable of exporting as much oil as we need and want,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.