Today the President made the determination required under section 1245(d)(4)(B) and (C) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 regarding the supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran.
The analysis contained in the Energy Information Administration’s report of October 31, 2013, indicates that global oil consumption has exceeded production in recent months, though trends stayed in line with seasonal patterns. International oil supply disruptions grew but were largely offset by rising oil production from other countries, particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia. While increased Saudi output reduced spare crude production capacity, stable inventory levels and stable oil prices compared with the period a year ago indicate a well-supplied international crude market.
There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to reduce significantly their purchases of Iranian oil, taking into account current estimates of demand, increased production by countries other than Iran, inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available spare production capacity. In this context, it is notable that many purchasers of Iranian crude oil continue to reduce, or have ceased altogether, their purchases from Iran.