Teheran, November 8 - Neftegaz.RU. Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said the coming months would be «pretty hurtful» for oil consumers.
«Unfortunately, the coming months are expected to be pretty hurtful for consumers» said the official in an interview with Shana, adding that the sanctions waivers US government would grant oil consumers were not in proportion to the market demand.
He stated: «Despite the initial battle cries of Mr. Trump and a number of regional oil producers, the US government eventually acknowledged a severe shortage of oil on the global market and the impossibility of removing Iran from this market.»
He said that the United States would issue sanctions waivers to 8 countries to buy oil from Iran due to a serious shortage of oil and the supply-demand imbalance, and in order to reduce the pressure on large consumers. «But, the level of the waivers would not be able to meet the demand and, therefore, I must say the future months will unfortunately be a hurtful months for oil consumers,» the official added.
Zanganeh further said that the Trump administration, on the eve of election in the US, had artificially reduced oil and petrol prices, but there naturally will be an upward trend in the prices in the coming months.
The US Treasury Department has issued 180-day waivers to 8 countries - China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Japan, and Taiwan - that will allow them to continue importing Iranian oil.
