On Saturday, Iran's President Hassan Rohani said that the country is preparing to reimpose lockdown measures in major cities and provinces that are facing rising coronavirus cases, which would weigh on its fuel demand recovery.
The lockdown is planned to start in Greater Tehran, and then in other major cities across the country, as one-week restrictions or shutdowns of particular services or public centers such as educational institutions, leisure centers, and religious centers.
The move comes after a sustained rise in daily coronavirus cases in the second half of September. On September 22, Iran recorded a new daily high of cases of 3,712. In the seven days prior to the announcement, the average number of daily new cases surged to 3,434.
The planned renewed restriction would weigh on Iran’s fragile fuel demand recovery and prompts the country to find alternative export outlets. At the start of August, domestic gasoline consumption was at 410,000-440,000 bpd, showing a significant recovery compared to April’s 313,000 bpd at the peak of the last round of the coronavirus mitigation measures.
Before the restrictions were in place in January-February, Iran exported just 30,000 bpd on average, but in the March-July period, the oil exports soared to 170,000 bpd.
