Iran oil revenues to hit record high

Iran's oil revenues are set to hit record of more than $100 billion this year, despite the call for more sanctions against the country, the energy consulting firm IHS CERA said in a report on Monday.

High oil prices boosted Iran's oil revenues by nearly a third compared to 2010, IHS CERA said.

Iran has faced calls for tougher sanctions from the West on concerns about it developing a nuclear bomb as well as the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.

While the current sanctions have caused "serious economic pain," IHS CERA said it will take a big international effort to keep Iranian oil from buyers such as China, India and Japan.

"The West faces a classic catch-22 in regards to Iranian sanctions," said Bhushan Bahree, IHS CERA senior director for global oil.

"Any sanctions that the West imposes will ratchet up tensions, which raises fears of a conflict and puts more upward pressure on oil prices. Unless Iran is forced to offer discounts to sell its oil, the result is a higher profit for Iran when it inevitably sells the oil to someone else."

The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday that broad global sanctions could cause Iran to lose almost a quarter of its oil production capacity.

Tighter sanctions may result in Iranian production capacity declining by 890,000 barrels per day to just under 3 million bpd by 2016, the IEA said.