TEHRAN – Imposition of sanction on Iran's oil export has caused some difficulties for the United States when it comes to dealing with high energy prices ahead of 2022 midterm elections in the US, an expert says.
Fereydoun Barkeshli, president of Vienna Energy Research Group in Austria, told Iran Newspaper on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden's public approval rating fell to the lowest level compared to the term of his own presidency but also those of all American presidents in the last 30 years, and that people in the country vote based on what are the prices in gas stations.
China has officially declared that it has purchased four million barrels of crude oil from Iran, Barkeshli said.
He added that such a move has been unprecedented since the US pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal and the end of China's exemption deadline for importing oil from Iran, a fact that shows the world oil market has experienced a change in the last two years.
The international oil market has its basis on supply and demand, Barkeshli said, adding that the market now has returned to the situation of the last three months in 2019, which means the world demand for crude oil has increased to 100.070 million barrels per day (bpd).
According to the analyst, Iran seeks balanced prices between 65 to 75 dollars per barrel, although Tehran will achieve more profit from higher prices, creating a balance between the profit of being a producing country and the interests related to the profit is not compatible.
The oil market expert said the US and especially Biden are under pressure due to high oil prices. While the midterm elections will be held in summer, Biden has got the lowest approval rates among presidents of the last three decades, he thus should take into consideration the situation of the oil market in particular at the domestic level.
Besides internal pressures in the US over oil prices, other countries stand against the crude embargo seriously, Barkeshli said, adding that the US imposed sanctions on Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports, kicking out 5.5 million bpd of the two countries' exports out of the world markets.
The expert further said Iran's oil industry requires investment and state-of-the-art technologies to reenergize its potential to pave the way for the developing economy of the Islamic country, warning that lack of investment and technology can turn the industry into a dilapidated one. (IRNA)
