InfoAnda - Iran feels sanctions pain as oil income slumps |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Producer Lillywhite seeking Cowell's "Idol" seat | 6 March 2010
China eyes 20 pct renewable energy by 2020: report | 10 June 2009
Egypt Copts mark Christmas under tight security | 7 January 2011

Maya Angelou, Rihanna among Glamour mag's honorees | 10 November 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Iran feels sanctions pain as oil income slumps |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. See more Images of May Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Capriles rallies Venezuelans to challenge Chavez 10 Jun 2012 Four dead in Sacramento gang shooting 12:27am EDT Analysis: EU's Spain bank rescue may bring only brief respite | 4:19am EDT Muslim, Buddhist mob violence threatens new Myanmar image 2:37am EDT Skeptical Spaniards pour scorn on Rajoy over rescue 10 Jun 2012 Discussed 133 Wisconsin recall election too close to call after polls close 126 Exclusive: Drones ”inhumane”, dead al Qaeda man’s family says 102 Obama: U.S. economy ”not doing fine”, action needed Watched Chip-based human organs to revolutionize drug development Sun, Jun 10 2012 Self-adjusting glasses a clear alternative for the developing world Fri, Jun 8 2012 PM Rajoy says his reforms saved Spain from full rescue Sun, Jun 10 2012 Iran feels sanctions pain as oil income slumps Tweet Share this Email Print Related News U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iran fail to reach deal on probe Fri, Jun 8 2012 More U.S. waivers to Iran sanctions likely next week Thu, Jun 7 2012 Iran spars with West before nuclear talks Wed, Jun 6 2012 UPDATE 9-Oil up on hopes action near on economic growth Mon, Jun 4 2012 UPDATE 3-Saudi boosts OPEC output despite price drop Tue, May 29 2012 Analysis & Opinion As financial conditions tighten, Fed may have to run to stay in place Will Syria’s Assad get away with murder Related Topics World » By Peg Mackey and Alex Lawler LONDON | Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:03am EDT LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's state finances have come under unprecedented pressure and the resilience of ordinary people is being tested by soaring inflation as oil income plummets due to tightening Western sanctions and sharply falling oil prices. Tough financial measures imposed by Washington and Brussels have made it ever more difficult to pay for and ship oil from Iran. Its oil output has sunk to the lowest in 20 years, cutting revenue that is vital to fund a sprawling state apparatus. Already down by more than a quarter, or about 600,000 barrels per day, from rates of 2.2 million bpd last year, shipments of crude oil from Iran are expected to drop further when a European Union oil embargo takes effect on July 1. Tehran is already estimated to have lost more than $10 billion in oil revenues this year. Causing even more pain, oil prices fell below $100 a barrel last week to a 16-month low amid a darkening outlook for economies in Europe, the United States and China. "This is an act of economic warfare. The sanctions are having a big effect in cumulative terms: Iran is being locked out of the global financial system," said Mehdi Varzi, a former official at the National Iranian Oil Co. "It does appear that Iran is more amenable to negotiations now than it was a year ago. The West should take advantage of this momentary situation to offer more meaningful concessions - a road map to where this will all end," said Varzi, now running an energy consultancy in Britain, Varzi Energy. Diplomats and analysts say Iran may offer the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, increased cooperation as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with world powers, which resumed in April after a 15-month hiatus and are to continue in Moscow on June 18-19. Basic mathematics dictate that the lower Iran's oil exports, the higher the oil price it will need to stay in the black. According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran needs oil at $117 a barrel to balance its budget, set at $462 billion. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the budget was designed to decrease Iran's dependence on oil revenues. Senior Iranian oil officials have acknowledged that sanctions have reduced exports but say the country has long experience of finding ways around them and a drop in oil revenue is not the end of the world. "Personally, I will be very happy if the dependence of the economy on oil revenue is decreased," said an Iranian oil official, who requested anonymity. "We can use the sanctions as an opportunity". STRUCK BY SOARING PRICES International sanctions have been a fact of life in Iran for decades and Tehran is adept at working round them. But there are growing signs that ordinary people are feeling much more pain from them than in the past as inflation has soared in the last six months. "I was struck by the high prices when I went to the grocery store yesterday," said Ahmad, 54, who owns a small fabric shop in Tehran's bazaar. He said the price of apples had more than doubled in the past month and strawberries had almost tripled to 110,000 rials per kilo, or more than $6 at market rates. "Little by little, even fruit is becoming a luxury." Inflation is now officially running at about 20 percent, although economists say prices of the goods most Iranians worry about are rising much faster. The country is undergoing what the government has called major economic surgery, in the form of cuts to the multi-billion dollar subsidies which for years have held down the price of essential goods such as fuel and food. The value of the rial began to slip in January and traded at around 20,000 rials per dollar in February, up from 10,500 rials in December. It now stands at around 17,800 rials at market rates while the official rate is 12,260 rials to dollar. The price of petrol on the domestic market remains stable but taxi and public transport fares have gone up. Sanctions are also painfully reshaping flows of goods for small enterprises, with one owner of an import company in Tehran saying he was forced to fire some workers recently after being forced to source his purchases from China instead of Europe. "The shift caused a great deal of financial loss for us. I am not sure how much longer we can go on like this. We certainly will not be able to cope if financial sanctions on Iran intensify," the entrepreneur, who asked not be named, said. HOMELESS OIL On the export front, several big European companies have halted purchases of Iranian oil and others are winding down. Iran had hoped that energy-hungry China and India, both major customers, would mop up much of the oil left homeless by European clients. That may not be the case. "Our impression is that China and India have not been as helpful as the Iranians expected," said a senior Western oil executive, who declined to be identified. "But it's very difficult to get a clear picture of how much oil is moving because they are deliberately cutting off communication." Since early April, Tehran has been hiding the destination of its oil sales by switching off tracking systems on its tankers. But barrels counted upon arrival in Iran's top four customers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - show a 20 percent decrease, or 357,000 bpd, so far this year, according to government data and industry sources. That translates into a loss in revenue of roughly $35.7 million a day, or $4.3 billion in the first four months of this year, based on current Brent crude prices. Iranian crude is sold at a discount of several dollars per barrel to benchmark dated Brent, so the actual losses are likely to be even higher. Some relief has come from soaring prices earlier this year as Brent so far in 2012 is averaging $116 a barrel, up from 2011's $110, which was a record high. But reduced output and falling prices are making things worse very quickly. From July 1, Morgan Stanley expects Iranian exports to fall by a further 150,000 bpd while the International Energy Agency has said they could almost halve by 1 million bpd. That is putting Iran on course for a huge drop in oil revenues, while those of its rivals from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will hit a record. According to the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies, the strong oil price has put OPEC on a path to earn $911 billion from oil exports this year. Iran - OPEC's second biggest producer - could see a 39 percent decrease this year to $44 billion, while Saudi Arabia is expected to see a $3 billion increase to $294 billion. Belt tightening may be needed for Iran to withstand lower oil prices and exports after the EU sanctions take full effect. "The only way around it will be for Iran to cut the budget, which has a lot of fat," said Varzi. (Reporting by Peg Mackey, Alex Lawler, additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Writing by Peg Mackey and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Giles Elgood) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 11 June 2012
Six killed, 38 wounded in Iraq mortar attack |
Libya postpones landmark election to July 7 |
Afghan arsonists seek to enforce truancy from school |
Analysis: Who will be India's president? This time, it matters |
Capriles rallies Venezuelans to challenge Chavez |
High-paying mine jobs down under bring big city woes to small towns |
Egypt candidate accuses rival over HQ attack |
U.S. to act firmly on Somalis who hinder roadmap |
Matthew McConaughey weds Camila Alves in Texas |
Royal anthem reigns at top of UK charts |
Madagascar 3 cruises to North America box office win |
Once leads tight Tony Awards contest |
Muslim, Buddhist mob violence threatens new Myanmar image |
Assad forces renew Homs assault |
Insight: Portugal toughs it out as austerity bites |
Firepower bristles in South China Sea as rivalries harden |
Mexican front-runner barely troubled in tepid debate |
Libya postpones landmark election to July 7 |
Six killed, 38 wounded in Iraq mortar attack |
Iran feels sanctions pain as oil income slumps |
Police search Putin opponents' homes before rally |
Analysis: Stakes high as Wintel puts all its chips on Windows 8 |
Insight: Google goes softly-softly on European antitrust |
Irish love story Once wins eight Tony Awards |
Clybourne Park, Once, win top Tony Awards |
Les Paul guitars, items fetch $5 million at auction |
Madagascar 3 cruises to North America box office win |
Yemen army attacks Islamist stronghold, dozens dead |
U.S. pulls negotiators from Pakistan, no supply deal |
Health of Egypt's Mubarak very critical: lawyer |
Ex-British prime minister accuses Murdoch of misleading inquiry |
Israel rounds up African migrants for deportation |
Britain says convoy attacked in Libya's Benghazi |
Israeli PM Netanyahu injures leg in soccer game |
ICC lawyer held in Libya faces 45-day detention |
Vatican hopes for mutual understanding with U.S. nuns |
Google, author body end spat on internet books |
Facebook to join Russell 3000 index |
Flame pieces found in Stuxnet virus: expert |
Sprint says no longer Clearwire majority owner |
M&A could help telcos close Europe's network gap: Kroes |
Apple expected to unveil applications to take on Google |
New app allows sharing of mobile Internet access |
Mellanox wins Intel contract, shares hit life high |
Robin Roberts of TV's Good Morning America battling blood disorder |
Slipknot unveils songs, art, on new best-of album |
Big oil, hats, money, scheming? Dallas is back |
Royal anthem reigns at top of UK charts |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01