Iran was not immune to the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine - which plunged the global energy market into chaos - but the continued imposition of Western sanctions on Moscow, and the latter's fear that the sanctions would affect its oil sector, prompted it to head towards East Asian markets, the main destination for Iranian oil.

After Iranian oil exports to China reached record levels until the beginning of 2022, they declined last April - according to international reports - which raised the fear of some Iranian circles that the Russian orientation towards the east would restrict their country's exports to these countries.

International Reports

Initial assessments by Vortexa Analytics showed that China imported about 650,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude last April, slightly less than about 700,000 barrels per day last March, according to what was published by Reuters.

The Kepler data analysis company initially estimated Iran's exports in April at 575,000 barrels per day, down from an average of 840,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2022, but it expects to adjust the April quantities in the coming weeks.

According to Reuters, China's seaborne imports from Russia jumped 16% last April, compared to March, to about 860,000 barrels per day, the highest level since last December.

losing customers

For his part, Hamid Hosseini, head of the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters Syndicate, confirmed that international reports support what was published about the decline in Iranian oil exports to China, and did not rule out that Russia would seize in the short coming period Iran's share of oil exports to China.

And he stressed - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that the Russian war on Ukraine brought the oil, gasoline, gasoline and liquefied gas market into chaos, explaining that his country had lost some of its customers in the Emirati port of Jebel Ali, because the Russians were offering to sell Base Oil for 800. dollars, while Iran had agreed with a customer to sell it at a price of 1130 dollars.

Hosseini considered Southeast Asian countries as a potential market for Russian energy that Tehran might lose in the future, revealing that some of Iran's customers have become asking for cheaper prices to buy Iranian liquefied gas after the Ukrainian crisis.

He explained that energy prices in some neighboring countries are affected by Russian prices, stressing that Afghanistan recently announced that it will not continue to buy liquefied gas from Iran, unless its price is around 450 dollars, while Tehran was selling it at 600 to 700 dollars to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

International reports support a decline in Iranian oil exports to China (Shutterstock)

European market

While it seems that Iranian oil is facing difficulties in finding buyers, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Majid Tashghani spoke of his country's intention to study the possibility of exporting its natural gas production to Europe, adding that "the efforts have not reached a result yet."

And the Iranian Oil Ministry news agency (SHANA) quoted Chegni as saying that Tehran and Baghdad signed a memorandum of understanding weeks ago to increase gas exports from the Islamic Republic to Iraq.

In this context, researcher in political economy Bayman Yazdani urged his country to strengthen its trade relations with neighboring countries and provide them with energy, similar to Iraq and Turkey, coinciding with working to revive the nuclear agreement and lifting US sanctions.

Yazdani expected - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that many global markets - especially European - would open their doors to Iranian energy in the event of resolving the thorny issues in the Iranian nuclear file, describing the future of Iranian energy exports as promising, he said.

discounts and solutions

However, the Iranian researcher added that his country lacks the necessary infrastructure to sell its energy to European countries, stressing that Tehran will work quickly to find solutions to raise its exports of oil, gas, gasoline and other oil derivatives, as soon as the nuclear agreement is revived.

Yazdani described the energy market as competitive, and that Russia or any other country has the right to allocate discounts to its customers, stressing that he is not afraid that Iranian energy will compete with its Russian counterpart in East Asian markets because Tehran has already invented solutions to sell its energy and ensure it reaches its customers, and this is what it has tried. Successfully with Lebanon and Venezuela.

He referred to Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas's ongoing visit to Tehran, adding that the latter and Havana signed a roadmap for bartering goods between the two countries, stressing that bartering oil for goods Iran needs is a solution to raise its energy exports to other countries.

The Iranian Deputy Economic Minister, Mahdi Safari, confirmed that Iran and Cuba had agreed to systematically barter oil with grain, stressing the importance of the Cuban market for the export of Iranian products.