Iran, an ally of Putin,” is preparing to replace Russia’s oil market share in Europe amid renewed negotiations over a nuclear deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi speaking ahead of a summit meeting
Iran plans to fill some of Russia’s stake in Europe’s oil market if the nuclear deal is renewed.
The European Union is set to ban imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022.
Iran is competing against Russia to sell discounted crude to buyers who do not sanction.
Iran is seeking to fill Russia’s market share for oil in Europe if a new nuclear deal with world powers is finalized.
Tehran’s plan comes amid stiff competition with its ally Russia in international oil markets, as both heavily
sanctioned countries are slashing prices to sell to buyers who don’t sanction, such as China and India, Bloomberg reported in July.
Iran’s state-owned oil producer would seek customers in countries including Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey if economic sanctions were eased, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday that cited people with knowledge of Tehran’s strategy.
It is anticipated that the nuclear deal could be revived after former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018. That was about three years after Iran struck a historic deal with six world powers — the U.S., Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia — to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, including oil.
While Iran’s lost barrels didn’t hit global prices as much in the following years when there was no supply shortage, they could make a difference now amid sanctions and boycotts against energy giant Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. In particular, the European Union, a major Russian consumer, will ban Russian oil later this year.
SKJ