Iran has increased its oil exports A new report shows that during the Biden administration despite harsh and stringent sanctions imposed by the US government.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its annual report on Iran's exports of crude oil and petroleum products, stating that Iran earned between $53 billion and $54 billion in 2022-2023, a significant increase from $37 billion in 2021 . and $16 billion in 2020. The EIA report was commissioned by Congress.
Revenues in 2020 were the lowest since 2018, when Iran earned nominal revenues of $65 billion, according to calculations on the website of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
The main conclusion of the report is that China has provided Iran with a significant export partner, enabling it to bypass sanctions and continue to profit from energy exports.
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The Trump administration maintained a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, hitting every industry and manufacturing sector with significant sanctions against companies and individuals in order to drive the country into economic ruin. The BBC found in 2019 that Iran had entered a “deep recession” and oil exports had “fell” as a result of Trump's policies.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has sought to reassure Iran with a series of sanctions waivers that officials said would encourage Tehran to sit up and agree to a renewed nuclear deal that never materialized.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, January 23, 2016. (Pool Press Office/Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Biden administration continued to issue waivers, such as those issued for Iraq to buy energy from Iran — waivers that began during the Trump administration but were maintained by Biden even as Iran's allies and proxies in the Middle East began to target Israel.
“The numbers don't lie,” former Trump NSC official Richard Goldberg told Fox News Digital. “I have always said that the Biden administration is pursuing a strategic communications policy, not a sanctions policy… there is no active campaign to stop these shipments to really put pressure on both China and other shipping points, and that's quite obvious from the beats of the music.” .
A 2023 Reuters report found that “appetite for Iranian oil is growing in China,” which is “the world's largest oil importer.” The sharply reduced price of oil resulting from sanctions could be a major attraction for Iranian product, and the EIA report indicated that it could not include the reductions in its data.
Iran's 2023 exports of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) are “the highest in over four years, with more than 80% of them going to China.” Reuters reported, citing consulting companies FGE and Vortexa.
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Iranians demonstrate during an anti-Israel protest in Tehran, September 27, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
Some critics have argued that income is not a fully accurate measure because the price of oil fluctuates based on many factors, and there has been a sharp increase in prices over the past few years that roughly correlates with Iran's income.
When Iran earned $16 billion in 2020, the price of oil per barrel was $39.68; when Iran was earning over $50 billion a year, the price of oil per barrel was $94.43 and $82.95.
Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, acknowledged that price fluctuations do make it difficult to assess the true level of exports from Iran, but knowing that revenues have increased as cuts remain or increase due to U.S. sanctions would offset any price decline.
A tanker off the coast of Bushehr, Iran, June 8, 2022. (Sadra Company/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters)
“It's very hard to explain because you just don't know how much the Chinese are actually paying because it's illegal, the cargo is risky, so Iran has to charge at a discount,” Goldberg said.
“When you look at the volume of exports, especially to China – I mean, the increase from 300,000 barrels a day to 1.2 million, it's breathtaking,” Goldberg said. “This is not sanctions evasion. This is an active policy of allowing deliveries.”
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The EIA noted that access to reliable data remained limited and its reports relied on NIOC and other external sources, but stressed that the EIA only used sources and data in whose estimates it had “fairly high confidence”.
The Abadan oil refinery in southwestern Iran, seen from the Iraqi side of Shatt al-Arab in Al-Faw south of Basra, Iraq, September 21, 2019. (Reuters/Essam Al-Sudani)
“Due to challenges with data availability and transparency, almost all crude oil and petroleum product data presented in this report are estimates, not actuals,” the report said, later adding: “Data is subject to change as new information becomes available “.
“Although price data is available in real or near real time, actual sales price data for Iranian crude oil is opaque, requiring the use of estimation methods and proxy variables to obtain revenue estimates,” the report said.
The report looks at Southeast Asian destinations (particularly Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam) as a misdirection for Chinese imports and a way to avoid U.S. sanctions problems.
On Friday, the State Department and the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on Iran's energy sector in response to Iran's latest attack on Israel.
The statement reads in part: “This action increases financial pressure on Iran, limiting the regime's ability to obtain key energy revenues, which could undermine regional stability and attack U.S. partners and allies. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, identifies the petroleum and petrochemical sectors of the Iranian economy.”
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According to Reuters, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a statement on the sanctions, said that “today's new designations also include measures against the 'Ghost Fleet' that delivers illicit Iranian oil to customers around the world.”
A spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris and the State Department did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
