Iran looks to Asia for sanction relief
European firms will be wary of doing business with Iran under US sanctions, but China and India are among states which won’t back off
The unilateral US decision in May to impose stringent new sanctions on Iran and withdraw from the international Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has prompted widespread discussion that more than 1m barrels a day of oil output will be lost. But oil industry and shipping officials suggest that the near-term shortfall, if any, may be less than many fear; although the longer-term effects on Iran's oil and gas sector are likely to be very negative. The JCPOA was agreed in 2015, and the following year Iranian oil production reached its highest level since just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, at 4.6m b/d including condensates and natural gas liquids, according to the BP Statistical Re
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
