Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated Moscow’s commitment to an agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, on keeping production at a certain level, saying his country will not immediately increase oil output after the United States ends sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian crude next month.
“Russia is ready to meet the needs of not just China, but of all our partners around the world,” Putin told reporters on the sidelines of a summit in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Saturday, adding, “We currently produce 1.5 million barrels of oil per day and we can produce more. We have colossal potential.”
“But we have an agreement with OPEC to maintain production at a certain level and this agreement is in force until July,” the Russian president pointed out.
The administration of US President Donald Trump said in a statement on April 22 that, in a bid to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero, buyers of Iranian oil must stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers — Turkey, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan — to continue importing limited volumes.
PressTV-US ends sanctions waivers for Iran oil imports
The White House says US President Donald Trump will not reissue waivers for Iran’s oil imports.
“The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates … along with our friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied,” the White House statement said, adding, “We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market.”
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In May last year, Washington unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers that mainly guarantees Iran’s oil sales in return for a number of concessions by Iran and the lifting of US sanctions on the country.
Last November, the US enforced sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s banking and energy sector. However, it granted waivers to the eight major importers of Iran’s oil, fearing market instability.