According to the Associated Press reported on May 27, the United States seized an Iranian tanker carrying oil cargo near Greece, and a source in the Greek Shipping Department said that "the cargo has been transferred to another tanker employed by the United States" and that the ship will then sail to the United States, in response, Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted Iranian ports and maritime organizations as saying that the tanker was confiscated by the United States when it was seeking help on the Greek coast after encountering technical problems and bad weather, adding that the seizure of its oil cargo was "" apparent piracy".
The Iranian tanker is located off the coast of Karystos on the Greek island of Evia
At the time of the SEIZURE OF Iranian oil tankers by the United States, according to Iranian state television reported on May 26, Iran said that it proposed some "solutions" to the relevant parties on the lifting of economic sanctions by the United States, was considering documents negotiating relevant agreements with the United States, and said that supplying more Iranian energy products to the global market would help stabilize prices and inflation.
Iran has the world's largest natural gas reserves, Saudi Arabia's crude oil reserves and Australia's mineral reserves, and the climate is diverse, agricultural resources are abundant, suitable for growing a variety of agricultural products, not only that, Iran's advantages also have a broad domestic industrial base, but the dollar has been seriously affected since the resumption of settlement restrictions on Iran's energy industry in 2018, so Iran has been looking to develop new energy customers and expand the market.
A corner of the Iranian city
According to Reuters quoting commodity data provider Kpler on May 25, Iran's exports rose to 40% higher than an average of 668,000 barrels per day for the whole of 2021 in the first three months of the year, which shows that Iran's efforts to promote oil exports have been working, although the report did not reveal more details.
The timing is fortuitous for Iranian oil companies, which rank fourth in the world in terms of oil reserves, exporting about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day before 2018, and analysts estimate that Iran has stored about 103 million barrels of oil at sea in advance, which could be quickly put on the market if a deal is reached with the world's major powers. For example, according to a report released a week ago by research firm Middleeasteye, nearly 40 million barrels of oil have docked in Singapore since March in search of Asian buyers.
Iranian tankers on the surface of the sea
According to a public speech by the CEO of The Iranian National Oil Company, the current shortage of global energy supply chains and soaring energy prices have opened a window of opportunity for Iran to increase revenue, and in the 12 months to April, it has managed to increase oil exports by 40%, exceeding the annual export value target, according to Iran's official newspaper Iran Newspaper, iran's central bank released statistics in early May, oil sales in the six months to April, compared to $8.5 billion in the same period last year. The CEO also said that Iran's oil exports grew faster than other Middle Eastern countries in the first quarter.
At the same time, according to the Iranian state television reported on May 24, iran has signed a "barter" cooperation agreement with Cuba, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Pakistan, seeking to expand economic and trade relations with these countries, including oil, agricultural products, etc., and considering the use of local currency cooperation settlement in bilateral trade to bypass the US financial system.
Iranian workers spread saffron threads from the harvested flowers
All of this news is undoubtedly a positive direction for iran's economy, which is in trouble with the oil industry, because record petrochemical sales are expected to offset the loss of crude oil exports, while large-scale projects have been launched to expand the capacity of its non-crude commodities and reduce dependence on oil revenues.
According to a May 15 report by Iran Customs, exports of non-crude oil commodities, including agricultural products, petrochemicals, mining, etc., hit a record high in the year ended May 1, an 81% increase over the same period, and Iran is expected to achieve its export revenue target of $55 billion in a fiscal year in March 2023. For example, in just three months this year, the total export revenue of oil, condensate, petrochemicals, petroleum products and natural gas has increased by 2.5 times.
Behind these new developments is that Iran's oil exports have changed tactics and opened up new markets, and have led to profound and innovative changes in the way settlement or sales of goods are offered to Iran, according to the Iranian Export Guarantee Agency, although the Iranian central bank is still being written off by the SWIFT system, the funds managed by the agency have replaced the banking system, clearing the obstacles faced by Iran's financial and technical services sector by issuing guarantees, which can facilitate trade, including oil, using cryptocurrencies to import goods.
Iran's landmark Iranian Temple
In response, the Iranian authorities have officially replaced the original position of the US dollar with the renminbi, and listed the renminbi, the euro and the UAE dirham as the country's three major foreign exchange currencies, the Iranian foreign exchange website said in a statement that this move is to prevent the dollar from operating in Iranian commerce, which means that Iran will expand the use of the renminbi, and considering that the yuan crude oil futures have been in the context of the enhanced pricing function of the Asian market and the expansion of commercial activities between China and Iran, It is also possible to offer traders from oil-producing countries, including Iran, an alternative oil currency option.
The Renminbi (CNY) replaced the original dollar's position/image source, Sanarate
According to reuters quoting the latest data from S&P, Vortexa Analytics and Kpler on May 20, the average export volume of Iranian oil in the first quarter of this year was about 930,000 barrels per day, mainly to the Asian market, while its initial estimate in April was 750,000 barrels per day, and the data showed that more than 22 million tons of Iranian oil has continued to arrive in the Chinese market in the past 24 months.
The analysis shows that some of the transaction volume is settled in renminbi. It is reported that Iran's new national currency "Turman" may anchor the RMB exchange rate, which means that Iran can also use the RMB to buy more Chinese goods, increase economic and trade exchanges, and inject new vitality into the Iranian economy. More than that, the following new news has surprised the market even more.
Iran's official news agency also said on May 25 that Iran will also use cryptocurrencies to bypass the centralization of the US dollar and use crude oil and gold as physical collateral. In January this year, Iran established a blockchain currency research office, is studying digital currencies backed by local currencies, the new development is that Iran's four banks are negotiating with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, South Africa and other countries on the use of digital currencies in economic and financial settlement transactions, and new progress has been made.
According to a report published by the Iranian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, as of April, the SHTA trading mechanism cooperated by the financial systems of Iran and Switzerland has successfully carried out a number of transactions, and we note that this is also a de-dollarization project that belongs to the Iranian central bank to successfully bypass the dollar restriction and be handled by a Western bank. At this juncture, another unexpected thing happened.
According to Reuters quoting several sources on May 25, the Bank of Japan is also studying the establishment of a digital currency system, entering the second phase in May (completing the certification of the concept stage in March) to support cross-border transactions and settlements, and advocating de-dollarization in the field of commodity trading with, including With Iran, the data shows that Iran is Japan's main oil supplier, and the core logic behind these things is actually very simple.
In a report published by the advisory board of OMFEF, a world-renowned think tank, iran explains that these new moves in Iran show that by introducing blockchain-backed anchored local currencies or digital currencies supported by strategic resources such as gold and oil, and strengthening foreign exchange and innovative market positioning, it has the ability to weaken the US dollar or bypass SWIFT to create a digital fiat currency that can be accepted by central banks around the world, which is of course a solution, which may be the next Pearl Harbor-style event. (End)