Iran Sanctions: Saudi oil sales to US jump

NEW YORK/ LONDON: Saudi Arabia is preparing to extend this year’s unexpected jump in oil sales to the United States. The kingdom’s shipments to the United States have quietly risen 25% to the highest level since mid-2008, according to preliminary US government data. But some say the scale of the increase plus other US data showing Gulf Coast inventories are still subdued, suggest the potential for a political dimension as well, evoking comparisons to 2008 when the Opec kingpin was driving up production to knock oil prices off record highs near $150 a barrel. Washington has urged ally Saudi Arabia to cover potential shortages when new US and European Union sanctions are expected to reduce Iranian oil exports from July. The kingdom has stepped up efforts this week to assure edgy markets that it will make up for any oil supply disruptions at a time when Iran’s standoff with the West has begun to intensify.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2012.