The US President declared on May 8 that the country had withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal due to it being “defective at its core,” despite attempts by EU countries to persuade him to keep the deal.
Saudi Arabia announced on May 9 that it will be monitoring the effect of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA (also known as the Iran deal) on the crude oil market, as Iran's market share could now decrease. Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source in OPEC, that Riyadh is looking into possibilities of filling the likely gap in oil production consequent to the resumption of US sanctions against Tehran.
The same source went on to add that Saudi Arabia will not fill the gap on its own, but is working on possible solutions with the United Arab Emirates (the UAE is the current holder of the OPEC presidency for 2018) and Russia (as a party to the agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers).
EU Can't Save Iran Nuclear Deal After US Exit — Top Iranian Military Leader
Despite Riyadh's assurances to find a replacement for Iranian oil production, the oil price did not remain stagnant, rising 3.2 percent up to $71.25 (futures for June) per barrel on May 9.
The news agency Bloomberg, citing Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., noted that the renewal of Iranian sanctions can drastically change the agenda for the upcoming OPEC meeting in June. Instead of discussing an extension…
