Anticipate more unsubstantiated threats as the clerics flail desperately in an attempt to get oil prices back up.
LONDON (Reuters) – Iran’s state finances have come under unprecedented pressure and the resilience of ordinary people is being tested by soaring inflation as oil income plummets due to tightening Western sanctions and sharply falling oil prices.
Tough financial measures imposed by Washington and Brussels have made it ever more difficult to pay for and ship oil from Iran. Its oil output has sunk to the lowest in 20 years, cutting revenue that is vital to fund a sprawling state apparatus.
Already down by more than a quarter, or about 600,000 barrels per day, from rates of 2.2 million bpd last year, shipments of crude oil from Iran are expected to drop further when a European Union oil embargo takes effect on July 1.
Tehran is already estimated to have lost more than $10 billion in oil revenues this year.
Causing even more pain, oil prices fell below $100 a barrel last week to a 16-month low amid a darkening outlook for economies in Europe, the United States and China.
Read more here.
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This reminds me of a speculative article posted a few weeks ago (think saw it here) about how Saudi Arabia was conspiring to keep oil prices down so as to weaken Iran and Iraq. Of course, I have to wonder if there’s been any conspiracy to keep oil prices elevated from earlier this year (tin-foil hat on).