By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice
Iran’s oil exports have not collapsed and are fetching much higher prices than before the war, handing Tehran handsome extra revenues from its crude, which is the only one unimpeded from transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Unlike all other Gulf producers, Iran is passing its oil through the Strait of Hormuz and its export volumes remain resilient. Steady volumes and higher prices have been bringing millions of dollars of additional oil revenues for the Islamic Republic since the war began, as oil prices jumped and discounts for Iranian barrels significantly narrowed versus Brent.
Iran has likely earned $139 million per day by selling its flagship Iran Light crude so far in March, according to Bloomberg calculations based on export estimates by Tankertrackers.com and prices for Iranian Light.
The estimated daily revenues were nearly $25 million higher compared to the average of $115 million daily proceeds from Iranian Light in February, according to Bloomberg’s calculations.
Iran is benefiting in several ways from the Hormuz crisis.
First, its tankers are transiting the Strait of Hormuz while most other Gulf oil supply is still trapped. Then, the massive supply shock from the Middle East has hiked international crude prices to above $100 per barrel (at about $105 a barrel of Brent early on Thursday), which adds more revenues from oil sales. And last but not least, the huge discount of more than $10 per barrel for Iran’s oil to Brent before the war has now narrowed to just $2.10 per barrel this week.
Iranian oil exports have remained resilient since the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iran and killed the Ayatollah, meaning that the jump in oil prices and the free flow of Iranian oil through the Strait of Hormuz is likely hiking Iran’s oil revenues.
Iranian crude exports remain relatively steady, maritime intelligence firm Windward said on Wednesday.
The U.S. waiver on Iranian sales may not be attracting buyers beyond the already established customers, the Chinese independent refiners, but it surely is driving up the price of Iranian crude to narrowed discounts to Brent.