LONDON: Midnight on Sunday will mark a dividing line in the world of oil. Beyond that point, anyone unloading a tanker from Iran risks the full wrath of the US government.
While the US softened its crackdown on the Middle East’s third-biggest oil producer yesterday, allowing some trade to continue, exports are already slumping. Shipments have plunged 37% since President Donald Trump announced that he’d reimpose sanctions, and once those penalties kick in on Nov 5, the overall supply disruption could become the biggest since Libya erupted in civil war at the start of the decade.