Iran says oil price rise offsets US sanctions' impact
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E-mail Xinhua, October 5, 2018
The recent rise in oil prices has offset the impact of the U.S. sanctions on Iran, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.
Iran's oil revenues were up 16 percent in the past six months, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization, was quoted as saying by Press TV.
U.S. President Donald Trump "thought he could shrink our country's oil revenues by imposing sanctions on Iran's oil sector and cutting its exports, but the rise in oil prices did not let that happen," said Nobakht.
Besides, Iran's budget for the current fiscal year was based on the oil price of 55 U.S. dollars a barrel, but the average oil price has risen to 70 dollars a barrel so far, he said.
The government expected to sell 2.4 million barrels per day of oil during the current Iranian calendar year which started in mid-March, but it exported 2.5 million barrels in reality, he added.
Trump has vowed to squeeze Iran's oil exports down to a trickle, pushing oil prices to historical high since 2014.
Iran has officially announced that among its oil customers, only South Korea has stopped the purchase of crude from Iran.
Oil prices remain near four-year peak on rising doubts about the capability of Saudi Arabia and other oil producers to substitute the cuts in Iran's crude exports once the U.S. imposes oil sanctions on the Islamic republic on Nov. 4.
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