Economy

Iran’s Oil Deal and the Struggle Ahead

Published

8 years ago

July 16, 2015

The Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, US, UK, Russia, China, and France plus Germany defuses the long-standing tension between Iran and the West, potentially changing the political landscape of the Middle East. But what about Iran’s oil and its impact on the economic landscape?

For years Iran’s economy has been crippled by US sanctions, and this includes its oil production. Iran has the 4^th largest oil reserves in the world, coming in at an estimated 158 billion barrels, but lack of investment has led to a serious decline in production capacity. In 2008 Iran’s oil fields produced 4 million barrels of oil a day, in 2015 it’s down to 2.8 million barrels. Today its markets have diminished with exports going mostly to China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey.

The question now is how much, if any, will Iran’s resurgence impact oil prices? There are two issues – how much they currently have in storage and what they can ramp up in terms of production. Iran does indeed have oil sitting there – stored mostly in tankers off the coast. However, Citigroup’s head of commodities research Edward Morse described the amount of oil in tankers as a bit misleading. “Of that 40 million barrels or so roughly two-thirds is either condensate or condensate blended crude oil. The condensate can be exported under the sanctions regime, so the question is why has it not been exported, and the answer is almost certainly that it is so high in sulphur content that no refinery anywhere in the world wants to take it on, except at a very steep discount. So I’d say two-thirds of that 40 million barrels is not really overhanging the market, only one-third is.”

So we are talking 13 million barrels, which is hardly going to have a dramatic initial impact. It will also be 6 months before sanctions are realistically lifted. Iran will be unlikely to want to unload it all at once and crash prices. It’s possible other countries may also increase their production to hold market share which will lead to the price being driven down.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Iran could potentially increase its product to 3.5 million barrels per day “within months of sanctions being lifted.” Others such as Richard Nephew (who served as lead sanctions expert for the US team negotiating with Iran) are less sure. He describes Iran’s oil producing infrastructure as plagued by “fatigued fields and antiquated equipment.” Some estimate the cost of getting Iran’s production back to pre-sanction levels as between $50 billion and $100 billion – which will need to come from foreign investment. This could take years, as high in investors’ minds will be the risk of the nuclear deal falling over and sanctions being reimposed.

Iran wants to recover its position as the number 2 oil producer in the world after Saudi Arabia, and this could conceivably be good too for the West – with oil prices being pushed down, but the bottom line is any dramatic changes are many years, some might argue decades off. In the short term, the impact of the nuclear deal is simply this: prices are unlikely to increase. According to Thomas Pugh, commodities economist at consultants Capital Economics, “the return of Iranian oil exports over the next year is one factor likely to keep oil prices low.”

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Samed Olukoya

Is the CEO/Founder of Investors King Limited. A proven foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and many more. He has over two decades of experience in global financial markets.

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Economy

China and Brazil Move Away from US Dollar in New Trade Deal

Published

3 days ago

March 30, 2023

Samed Olukoya

China and Brazil have struck a new trade deal that will allow them to trade in their own currencies, bypassing the need for the US dollar as an intermediary.

This agreement marks a significant move by China to reduce its reliance on the dollar and establishes the country as a formidable rival to the US in the global economy.

The deal was announced by the Brazilian government on Wednesday and will enable the two nations to conduct their financial transactions directly, using Chinese Yuan for Brazilian Real and vice versa.

Brazil’s biggest trading partner is China with bilateral trade worth a record USD 150.5 billion in 2022.

For Brazil, this deal represents a significant shift away from the traditional reliance on the US dollar as the world’s primary currency. According to the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, ApexBrasil, the agreement is expected to reduce costs and promote even greater bilateral trade.

The move away from the US dollar as an intermediary in international trade could have far-reaching implications for the global economy. Other countries may follow suit and start conducting their trade and financial transactions in their own currencies, potentially undermining the dollar’s position as the world’s primary currency.

This is not the first time that China has taken steps to reduce its dependence on the US dollar. In recent years, the country has been promoting the use of the yuan in international trade and investment, and has signed currency swap agreements with other countries to facilitate trade in their own currencies.

The shift away from the US dollar comes at a time of growing tensions between China and the US, with both countries engaged in a trade war and competing for global influence. As China seeks to establish itself as a major player in the global economy, this move is just one example of the country’s efforts to assert its economic power and challenge the dominance of the US.

Economy

Nigeria’s External Reserves Receive $1 Billion Boost from Oil Sales and Exports

Nigeria’s external reserves grew by $1.063 billion within 24 hours on March 28, 2023 to $36.668 billion in a move suspected to be inflow from the proceed of crude oil and exports.

Published

3 days ago

March 30, 2023

Samed Olukoya

United States Dollar - Investors King Ltd

Nigeria’s external reserves have received a significant boost of $1 billion from oil sales and exports, according to recent reports.

The increase resulted in a 0.11% appreciation in Naira value on Wednesday as the Naira to United States Dollar exchange rate moderated from N461.75 it closed on Tuesday to N451.24 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.

However, despite the positive news, currency dealers maintained bids between N459.50 (low) and N462.13 (high) per dollar. At the parallel market, also known as the black market, the local currency traded at N744 per dollar on Wednesday.

Analysts at the FSDH research have predicted that the Nigerian Naira will continue to face pressure from high import costs and demand for foreign currency by businesses and individuals. However, they expect the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to continue intervening in the FX market to contain the pace of depreciation.

Nigeria’s external reserves grew by $1.063 billion within 24 hours on March 28, 2023 to $36.668 billion in a move suspected to be inflow from the proceed of crude oil and exports.

The decline in external reserves from US$37.1 billion in January 2023 to US$36.1 billion on March 15, 2023, has been attributed to interventions in the FX markets and limited foreign exchange inflows. However, rising oil production in recent months raises the prospect of reserves accretion in the second half of 2023, according to analysts.

The scarcity of foreign currency in the official market coupled with a high exchange rate of N745/US$ in the parallel market continues to drive high input costs and imported inflation.

It remains to be seen how the country will navigate these challenges in the coming months.

Economy

Rivers State Customs Service Generates Over N54 Billion in Q1 2023

Published

5 days ago

March 28, 2023

Samed Olukoya

The Nigeria Customs Service, Area 2 Command in Onne, Rivers State realised N54.992 billion in revenue in the first (Q1) of 2023.

According to the Command Controller, Comptroller Baba Imam, this amount realised is part of the N336 billion revenue projected for 2023.

Imam revealed this information while addressing journalists in Onne, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Tuesday.

This represents an increase of N1.133 billion when compared to the amount generated in the first quarter of 2022.

Imam revealed that the command made several seizures, which he stated is a reflection of their commitment to facilitating only legitimate trade in accordance with extant laws.

The seizures included 24 containers carrying refined vegetable oil, two containers carrying 1,165 cartons of Analgin injection and fireworks, and one 20ft of machete that was detained on documentation grounds until an end-user certificate was provided.

The duty-paid value of the seized containers was N94,652,168.39 million, while the duty-paid value of the seized vegetable oil containers was N833,172,538.42.

Imam stated, “In revenue generation, the command was given a target of N336 billion as revenue target for 2023.

“As of today, the command has generated a total revenue of N54, 992,123, 687.15 billion which transits to 16.3 per cent of the target. When compared to the same period last year, the Command has an increase in revenue of N1,132, 925, 556.82bn.

“This figure was realized in spite of not having vessels berth in Onne Port for some time due to the election atmosphere. We look forward to a continuous rise in revenue generation in the coming months as we expect vessels to berth on our coastline within the next few weeks.”

Speaking further on the command’s anti-smuggling activities, he said within the past few weeks, there has been a lot of seizures.

“This is made visible with the display of a total number which comprises 26 seized containers and one detained container for violation or contraventions of various customs laws and breach of procedures as provided under the revised import prohibition guidelines Schedule 3 Article 4 of the Common External Tariff 2022-2026 as well as Section 46 paragraph (b), (d), (e), (f) and 169 of Customs and Excise Management.

“Twenty four containers laden with refined vegetable oil comprising a total of 24,860 gallons of 25 and 10 litres of La-Jonic vegetable oil. Also seized were other two containers laden with 1,165 cartons of Analgin injection and fireworks with other items.”