Iran and U.S strike deal on sanctions relief, Russia may feel impact: Bloomberg reports
Illustrative photo (Photo: Getty Images)
Iran has reached an agreement with the United States to ease sanctions, enabling the country to increase its oil supplies to China, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg states that this was done to curb the rising fuel prices in the United States. Additionally, this move might impact the supplies of Russian oil to Asia, as Iran will become a more active competitor in that direction with Russia.
"Months of secretive diplomacy between the two nations have yielded progress on prisoner exchanges, the unblocking of frozen assets and possibly even Iran’s enrichment of uranium," writes Bloomberg.
Iran's agreement with the US has already affected Russia
As a result, Iran's daily oil exports to China have averaged 1.5 million barrels per day, the highest since 2018. The article notes that this has contributed to the recent drop in oil prices.
Meanwhile, Russian crude oil shipments by sea have decreased to 2.84 million barrels in the past month, which is 1.5 million barrels less than in mid-May. Overall, its shipments to Asia during this period have dropped by 30%.
Situation with Russian oil
In December 2022, the European Union imposed an embargo on oil imports from Russian territory. The G7 countries and Australia introduced a price cap of $60 per barrel for Russian oil.
Spiegel reported that Russian oil continues to reach EU countries despite the embargo, posing as petroleum products from third countries, particularly India.
In July, it was reported that Russia's revenues from oil and gas had decreased by more than a quarter last month due to falling oil prices and gas supply restrictions to Europe.
