By Denis Korkodinov
The “tankers” war between the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf is real threat for the world oil supplies.
The countries of Europe and Asia have been forced to look for alternative routes. Washington offered them US oil. However, imports of American “black gold” can create additional problems. Poor quality, lack of logistics and excessively high prices are only the pinnacle of the problems that the world community may face when importing oil from United States.
Due to the US-Iranian tensions, China, India, Germany and France began to buy oil in USA. However, the volume of supplies of American oil (about 1 million barrels per day) turned out to be catastrophically insignificant compared to what countries in Asia and Europe could supply from the countries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz (more than 21 million barrels daily).
Compared to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, combined, the United States cannot fill the shortage of crude oil for Asian and European consumers, because they export only slightly less than 3 million barrels of oil per day. In turn, the oil needs of Europe and Asia now, according to the most modest estimates, amount to more than 20 million barrels a day.
In addition, the quality of American crude oil causes great complaints. American oil has an extremely low sulfur content, while the Middle East and the Persian Gulf can supply high-grade sulfur-containing oil, despite the fact that such oil is much cheaper than its American counterparts. Among other things, the supply of oil from the United States across the Gulf of Mexico, according to European and Asian analysts, is economically unprofitable.
Thus, the concern of the international community over the threat of blocking the Strait of Ormud is fully justified. The development of alternative oil routes will not solve the problem, but can only complicate it when Asia and Europe face a catastrophic shortage of oil resources. Therefore, the United States sooner or later will have to lift sanctions against Iran to neutralize the threat of a global energy crisis. Otherwise, Washington risks the rise of powerful European and Asian anti-American movement.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)
Image Credit: ISNA/REUTERS