TEHRAN: Iran missed its oil and gas revenue targets by nearly 30 percent last year, while failing to grab enough money in taxes to make up the shortfall, according to its official news service. President Hassan Rouhani’s administration “only managed to earn $19.44 billion from taxes and $13.06 billion by exporting oil and its byproducts, showing deficits of $7.34 billion and $5.3 billion, respectively,
The government had projected $18.36 billion from selling oil this year, according to the news service. In fiscal 2017, revenue from oil reached more than $24 billion in the wake of relaxed U.S. sanctions, 45 percent more than in fiscal 2018. Iran also had the benefit of not signing onto a Saudi-led pact to cut oil production among members and non-members of OPEC to drive crude oil prices higher. An oversupplied oil market cut many OPEC nations’ budgets in half, forcing them to consider austerity measures, such as in Venezuela, or, like Saudi Arabia, create a long-term plan to move its economy away from oil. Iran’s oil ministry had projected that oil revenue would surge to more than $40 billion in fiscal 2018. But the boom times appear to be over for the Islamic Republic, at least for now, based on the new report from the Central Bank of Iran. Increased pressure on Iran’s oil revenue is expected to come from the U.S. The latest projections from the International Energy Agency show oil and natural gas production increasing from fracking in the U.S., which has remained profitable in the low oil-price environment. The U.S. oil boom has prompted drillers to increase their efficiency, and they now are able to produce oil at lower cost than their foreign rivals. The Energy Department’s latest annual outlook shows the U.S. becoming a net oil exporter by 2020, after becoming a net natural gas exporter last year. That will increase the pressure on Iran and crude oil from the Mideast. Even more shocking for OPEC countries are reports that for the first time OPEC producers have begun importing U.S. crude oil. Republicans on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee circulated the news reports on Friday, touting the shift to American oil.
