Bijan Zanganeh: If Europe Helps, Iran's Oil Exports Will Not Decrease

Iran's Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, after meeting with Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Energy Commissioner, told reporters that 'he conveyed the clear message of the European Union regarding the protection of the JCPOA and the political will of the Union's leaders to us.' Mr. Cañete visited Tehran on Saturday, May 18. According to Shana, the information network affiliated with the Ministry of Oil, Zanganeh stated that 'today, detailed and operational discussions on oil, gas, petroleum products, gas condensates, and petrochemicals from the recent negotiations between Iran and Europe began, and it was decided that discussions would continue by colleagues on both sides.' About 40% of Iran's oil exports go to Europe, and the U.S. has announced that it wants to reimpose six-month sanctions exemptions. Under this sanction, Iran's customers are only exempt from U.S. sanctions every six months if they significantly reduce their oil purchases from Tehran. This issue led to a halving of Iran's oil exports before the nuclear agreement with six global powers, dropping to about one million barrels per day. In this context, Reuters also reported Zanganeh's comments, quoting him as saying, 'If Europe helps, Iran's exports will not decrease.' Mr. Cañete announced during his visit to Iran that as long as Tehran adheres to the nuclear agreement, Europe will also remain committed to it. Following the initiation of the legal process to protect European companies against U.S. sanctions, Mr. Cañete's statements represent a new effort to reassure Iran about preserving the JCPOA. After the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran announced that it would exit the agreement if its interests from the nuclear deal were not met. Zanganeh, in response to whether the sanctions imposed by the U.S. influence OPEC's decisions, stated that OPEC's decisions are made based on consensus. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, OPEC members, have announced that they are ready to compensate for any reduction in Iran's oil exports. OPEC and several other countries led by Russia have committed to reducing their daily production by about 1.8 million barrels this year. OPEC statistics show that due to the significant drop in Venezuela's oil production, OPEC's compliance rate is about 50% higher than what it committed to. Reuters writes that major European companies are hesitant to cooperate with Iran, and several large companies have suspended their contracts with Iran. However, Shana reported Mr. Cañete as saying that 'Europe will negotiate with the U.S. regarding the possibility of exemptions and waivers, and we will cooperate at least in finalized contracts when the U.S. was part of the agreement, which is important for large companies.' He said that we have decided to start a working group between Iran and the European Union for oil trade to examine how we can support Iran in maintaining its current level of global oil trade. Zanganeh stated that Iran's major oil customers are in Asia, although Iran also exports oil to Europe and Africa and can continue this level of exports. He expressed hope that European governments would guarantee the transfer of oil payments to the Central Bank of Iran in euros to bypass the U.S. financial system (based on the dollar).