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Advancing the U.S. Maximum Pressure Campaign On Iran

(April 22, 2019)

The United States is not granting any Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil. Maximum pressure means maximum pressure.

  • Secretary Pompeo announced his decision not to grant any Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil.
  • As the Secretary has said, maximum pressure means maximum pressure. We are fulfilling our promise to get Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime the revenue it needs to fund terrorism and violent wars abroad.
  • Targeting Iran’s oil exports is critical because they have historically been the regime’s single largest source of revenue, which it uses to support terrorist proxies, fuel its missile development, and engage in other destabilizing behavior.
  • Entities that engage in sanctionable activity involving Iran risk severe consequences. These consequences could include losing access to the U.S. financial system and the ability to do business with the United States or U.S. companies.
  • The United States will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime until its leaders change their destructive behavior, respect the rights of its people, and return to the negotiating table.

The Trump Administration has imposed the toughest sanctions ever on the Iranian regime. Our pressure is working.

  • The announcement today builds on our already historic success.
  • Iran’s oil exports have plummeted due to our pressure. Since President Trump announced that we would cease participation in the nuclear deal in May 2018, over 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil have been taken off the market, reducing the regime’s revenue by billions of dollars.
  • Overall, we estimate that our sanctions have denied the regime direct access to more than $10 billion in oil revenue since May. That is a loss of at least $30 million a day, and this is only with respect to the oil.
  • In March, Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly appealed for donations for the first time ever. He has been forced to undertake unprecedented austerity measures because the money from Iran is not flowing in as it once did thanks to our unprecedented pressure.
  • Iranian proxies in Syria and elsewhere are experiencing a lack of funding from Tehran. Fighters are going unpaid, and the services they once relied upon are drying up.

Oil markets are currently well supplied.

  • Oil markets are well supplied and oil inventory levels are seasonally strong.
  • We have commitments from oil producing countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to increase oil production to offset reductions in Iranian oil exports.
  • Rising Non-OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil production and sufficient storage levels show that the adjustment to replace Iranian oil exports has been successful.
  • The United States and other non-OPEC oil producers have already increased production and replaced Iranian exports, while other major producers have signaled to markets a willingness and ability to increase production to compensate for additional Iranian reductions.
  • Non-OPEC output, led by the United States, is forecast to expand by 2.2 million barrels per day in 2019 and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
  • OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), including
    U.S. industry-held, oil stocks remain above 5-year averages, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The United States is increasing oil production and exports.

  • EIA reported that United States petroleum and other liquids production average over 17 million barrels a day during the first quarter of 2019, making the United States the largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids, supplying more than 19 percent of global production.
  • U.S. crude oil production is estimated to have reached 12 million barrels per day in March, up 1.6 million barrels per day compared to a year ago.
  • EIA forecasts U.S. crude production will increase by 1.4 million barrels per day within the next year.
  • U.S. crude oil exports in January 2019 reached 2.575 million barrels per day, an increase of over 1.2 million barrels per day or 90 percent from the prior year, according to the EIA. U.S. exports help markets to function efficiently.
  • The IEA projects U.S. exports will rise sharply through 2021, and the United States will become the second largest oil and petroleum products exporter at around 9 million barrels per day, ahead of Russia and nearly equal to Saudi Arabia.
  • The U.S. remains in close and productive consultations with major oil producers, as well as major oil consuming organizations such as the International Energy Agency, which works to assure the global oil market is well supplied.

The United States is Rapidly Increasing Oil Production

The United States is not granting any Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil. Maximum pressure means maximum pressure.

  • Secretary Pompeo announced his decision not to grant any Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil.
  • As the Secretary has said, maximum pressure means maximum pressure. We are fulfilling our promise to get Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime the revenue it needs to fund terrorism and violent wars abroad.
  • Targeting Iran’s oil exports is critical because they have historically been the regime’s single largest source of revenue, which it uses to support terrorist proxies, fuel its missile development, and engage in other destabilizing behavior.
  • Entities that engage in sanctionable activity involving Iran risk severe consequences. These consequences could include losing access to the U.S. financial system and the ability to do business with the United States or U.S. companies.
  • The United States will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime until its leaders change their destructive behavior, respect the rights of its people, and return to the negotiating table.

The Trump Administration has imposed the toughest sanctions ever on the Iranian regime. Our pressure is working.

  • The announcement today builds on our already historic success.
  • Iran’s oil exports have plummeted due to our pressure. Since President Trump announced that we would cease participation in the nuclear deal in May 2018, over 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil have been taken off the market, reducing the regime’s revenue by billions of dollars.
  • Overall, we estimate that our sanctions have denied the regime direct access to more than $10 billion in oil revenue since May. That is a loss of at least $30 million a day, and this is only with respect to the oil.
  • In March, Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly appealed for donations for the first time ever. He has been forced to undertake unprecedented austerity measures because the money from Iran is not flowing in as it once did thanks to our unprecedented pressure.
  • Iranian proxies in Syria and elsewhere are experiencing a lack of funding from Tehran. Fighters are going unpaid, and the services they once relied upon are drying up.

Oil markets are currently well supplied.

  • Oil markets are well supplied and oil inventory levels are seasonally strong.
  • We have commitments from oil producing countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to increase oil production to offset reductions in Iranian oil exports.
  • Rising Non-OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil production and sufficient storage levels show that the adjustment to replace Iranian oil exports has been successful.
  • The United States and other non-OPEC oil producers have already increased production and replaced Iranian exports, while other major producers have signaled to markets a willingness and ability to increase production to compensate for additional Iranian reductions.
  • Non-OPEC output, led by the United States, is forecast to expand by 2.2 million barrels per day in 2019 and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
  • OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), including
    U.S. industry-held, oil stocks remain above 5-year averages, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The United States is increasing oil production and exports.

  • EIA reported that United States petroleum and other liquids production average over 17 million barrels a day during the first quarter of 2019, making the United States the largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids, supplying more than 19 percent of global production.
  • U.S. crude oil production is estimated to have reached 12 million barrels per day in March, up 1.6 million barrels per day compared to a year ago.
  • EIA forecasts U.S. crude production will increase by 1.4 million barrels per day within the next year.
  • U.S. crude oil exports in January 2019 reached 2.575 million barrels per day, an increase of over 1.2 million barrels per day or 90 percent from the prior year, according to the EIA. U.S. exports help markets to function efficiently.
  • The IEA projects U.S. exports will rise sharply through 2021, and the United States will become the second largest oil and petroleum products exporter at around 9 million barrels per day, ahead of Russia and nearly equal to Saudi Arabia.
  • The U.S. remains in close and productive consultations with major oil producers, as well as major oil consuming organizations such as the International Energy Agency, which works to assure the global oil market is well supplied.

The United States is Rapidly Increasing Oil Production

U.S. Crude Oil Production to increase by nearly 4 million barrels from 2017 to 2020.


Source: U.S. State Department