Iranian MPs draft plan to cut oil sales to western countries by one third

Eighteen members of the Iranian Majlis have drafted a plan calling for oil exports to be cut by one third to address the sanctions since oil revenues currently meet the budgetary requirements of the administration.
The international sanctions imposed on the country have provided an opportunity for the nation to take advantage of the rise in oil revenues as a means to counter the sanctions, the MPs said, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Iran’s oil revenues have risen due to the rise in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the rial in recent months.

On October 23, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said the country would halt oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions increased, and added that the government had a Plan B contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues.

“If sanctions intensify, we will stop exporting oil,” he told reporters in Dubai, Reuters reported.

Qasemi said Iran was still producing 4 million barrels per day (bpd), rejecting reports that the country’s output has fallen to around 2.7 million bpd.

On October 2, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he was hopeful the country, which relies on crude oil sales for the majority of its foreign revenues, would not face a cash shortage, although he confirmed that oil income had fallen as a result of the sanctions.

“We will continue with the current revenues, and, God willing, we will move forward without facing a budget deficit,” Ahmadinejad said when asked whether an OPEC basket price of around $110 per barrel would be enough to meet budgetary requirements.

In October, Economy and Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said if the government faces any problems selling crude oil, it will make up for the shortfall by increasing taxes.