- Iran earns massive oil revenues as the US-Iran conflict enters its fourth week.
- China continues to buy Iranian crude at minimal discounts despite tensions.
- Limited disruption to oil infrastructure keeps exports and prices elevate
With the US, Israel-Iran war entering its fourth week, Tehran has likely generated hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings from oil exports, while Gulf regions struggle to stabilise the crude oil business amid the Islamic Republic's "complete control" on the Strait of Hormuz, as per an NDTV report.
A prominent buyer of Tehran oil is China, which is trading at the slimmest discount on Brent Crude, giving financial strength to the country. The international benchmark price for oil purchases worldwide has reached above $100 a barrel during the conflict.
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Iran's crude has strengthened, with its discount to the international benchmark Brent narrowing to $2.10 a barrel, as compared to more than $10 before the war, the tightest in nearly a year.
As per reports, Iranian ships carrying crude sustained momentum at about 1.6 million barrels a day during March. Trade is taking place from Kharg Island terminal and exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, despite restrictions on oil transportation systems from other Gulf producers.
Tehran's daily revenue from Iranian light crude jumped to $139 million in March, up from $115 million in February, based on export and pricing analysis from TankerTrackers.com. February also marked peak trade for Iran since around July 2018, Kpler data shows.
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A temporary suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil already in transit, regardless of the daily airstrikes by the US and Israel, was the key factor in Tehran's financial boost, as per an NDTV report citing senior research scholar on Global Energy Policy, Richard Nephew. "The Trump administration is practically begging Iran to sell oil."
US airstrikes on Kharg Island have remained strictly limited to military targets, leaving Iran's vital oil infrastructure untouched. This lack of disruption is evidenced by Copernicus Browser satellite photos, which reveal that massive crude tankers remained docked at the terminal on every observation between March 2 and March 22.
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