US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to India next week, but will offer no relief from oil sanctions to what was a top Iranian export market just two months ago, a senior State official said Friday. “I think the administration has been very clear that this is the time to keep pressure on Iran, and certainly with the backdrop of the last several days, to ensure that Iran understands it needs to stop its destabilizing behavior in the region,” the official said in a background call with reporters.
Pompeo will meet next week with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar before heading to a G-20 meeting in Japan later in the week. The State official said the Trump administration has worked to boost global supply as sanctions waivers expired in May.
“We’ve worked closely over the course of the last several months to ensure that sufficient oil supply is available to our partners, and the US for its part has dramatically increased its crude oil production and will continue to do so,” the official said. “And at the same time, other key suppliers have also stepped in.”
President Donald Trump spoke Friday with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, which sources said likely touched on Saudi production amid the growing conflict between the US and Iran. “The two leaders discussed Saudi Arabia’s critical role in ensuring stability in the Middle East and in the global oil market,” the White House said in a statement. “They also discussed the threat posed by the Iranian regime’s escalatory behavior.”
Iranian crude oil and condensate exports, which averaged about 1.7 million b/d in March, fell to about 1 million b/d in April and an estimated 800,0000 b/d in May, according to data from cFlow, Platts trade flow software and shipping sources. The majority of those flows in May were to China, Turkey, and Syria, according to these sources. India accounted for 23% of Iran’s first-quarter crude oil shipments, but these imports have dropped to effectively zero, sources said.