US President Barack Obama today said that there was sufficient supply of oil for countries like India and China to continue to reduce the import of oil from Iran.

The determination from Obama means countries like India would have to continue to painfully reduce their oil import from Iran or else face the prospects of being slapped with sanctions by the US.

To avoid such a sanction, India and other countries would need to reduce their oil imports from Iran and thus get exemption from Secretary of State John Kerry. India has been receiving such an exemption from the Secretary of State.

“There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to reduce significantly their purchases of Iranian oil, taking into account current estimates of demand, increased production by countries other than Iran, inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available spare production capacity,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

“In this context, it is notable that many purchasers of Iranian crude oil continue to reduce, or have ceased altogether, their purchases from Iran,” he said in a statement after Obama made the determination required under the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2012 regarding the supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran.

The analysis contained in the Energy Information Administration’s report of October 31, 2013, indicates that global oil consumption has exceeded production in recent months, though trends stayed in line with seasonal patterns, he said.

“International oil supply disruptions grew but were largely offset by rising oil production from other countries, particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia,” Carney said.

“While increased Saudi output reduced spare crude production capacity, stable inventory levels and stable oil prices compared with the period a year ago indicate a well-supplied international crude market,” he said.

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