Energy News Beat Publishers Note (ENB): What does this mean to the price of oil, absolutely nothing. The Iran oil machine is pushing out as much as it can sell or store abroad. The OPEC and OPEC + production quotas are not in the best interests of Iran and Iran will do what it wants or requires. They have never stopped enriching uranium, and have been selling more oil outside of sanctions to maintain their government’s cash flow. The bottom line: The additional oil production by Iran is not being calculated into the pricing models now other than filling oil to China that would be bought from other sources. Iran has survived and played a better game of chess than the United States. The United States is not relevant to Iran, and the talks are a joke.
World powers and Iran will try reviving their landmark nuclear accord one last time before voters in the Islamic Republic head to the polls next week to elect a new president who’s likely to be less willing to make concessions to the West.
Diplomats start a sixth and possibly final round of negotiations in Vienna on Saturday. At stake is the 2015 agreement that capped Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Then-President Donald Trump jettisoned the accord three years ago and unilaterally reimposed punishing penalties, prompting Iran to dramatically increase its production of nuclear fuel.
The negotiations are being closely watched by oil markets as a deal would remove U.S. sanctions on Iranian exports. Agreement in Vienna could also help calm the Middle East, after the standoff between Tehran and Trump’s Washington fueled regional conflicts and coincided with a spate of unclaimed attacks on shipping.