On the day U.S. sanctions against Iran went into effect, Brent crude traded at US$72.68 a barrel. Today, three weeks later, Brent is down to US$59.59 a barrel and President Trump is congratulating himself on the low oil prices. Instead of shooting up to US$100, oil prices are falling and the U.S. waivers granted to eight large Iranian oil buyers are among the main reasons for this. But how long with the effect of the waivers last? Bloomberg last week published a round-up of how much each of the seven importers that won waivers are allowed to continue importing from Iran and the numbers suggest these seven countries could continue buying over a million bpd of Iranian crude until the waivers expire next year. However, the key word here is “could”. Take Japan, for example. One of the world’s top crude oil importers and a large client of Iran, […]