US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told MSNBC that 2.7mn barrels per day of Iranian crude has been removed from global markets due to US sanctions against the nation.
“We have managed to take almost 2.7 million barrels of crude oil off of the market, denying Iran the wealth to create their terror campaign around the world, and we have managed to keep the oil markets fully supplied,” he said, noting his confidence in the US government’s ability to continue this strategy.
US sanctions against Iran were reimposed in November 2018, although eight countries received waivers, allowing them to continue to import Iranian oil until May 2019, when all waivers expired.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies committed in December 2018 to cut production by 1.2mn barrels per day to cut down a potential inventory buildup as global demand appears to be weakening.