The Wall Street Journal - 20.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ***** Friday, March 20, 2020 |A

it would start soliciting bids on

30 million barrels, with more

to follow until the reserve adds

77 million total barrels.

Administration and industry

officials see diplomatic action

as necessary to get Russia and

Saudi Arabia to back down

from flooding the markets with

supply. The two countries this

month ended a three-year pact

to limit production and stabi-

lize prices, leading Saudi Ara-

bia to raise output to records

and slash its prices to compete

for shrinking global demand.

The U.S. would ask the Sau-

dis to return to their original,

lower production levels from

before that decision, an admin-

istration official familiar with

the matter said. The adminis-

tration could use the threat of

sanctions on Russia as part of

its engagement with Saudi Ara-

bia to assure the kingdom its

rival Russia won’t easily benefit

from Saudi cutbacks, the ad-

ministration official said.

Either way, possible sanc-

tions against Russia are in the

works, the administration offi-

cial and a second person fa-

miliar with the matter said, al-

Mr. White suffers from

acute asthma, according to his

family, which would put him in

a high-risk category for severe

illness from Covid-19. He also

experienced a recurrence of

cancer in prison, and its status

WORLD NEWS

said Thursday that Lebanon

had released U.S. citizen Amer

Fakhoury, who reportedly has

been suffering from cancer, af-

ter six months in detention on

charges of working for an Is-

raeli-backed militia.

Lebanon has been working

to assuage American concerns

about its financial crisis and

the extensive political and mil-

itary influence of Hezbollah,

the powerful Iran-backed

force, in a bid to continue to

receive U.S. financial support.

Mr. Trump also said that

the administration was work-

ing to get U.S. journalist Aus-

tin Tice out of Syria, where he

was believed to have been de-

tained during a 2012 reporting

trip. Mr. Trump added that the

administration hadn’t con-

firmed Mr. Tice is still alive.

is unknown, the family’s repre-

sentative told The Wall Street

Journal.

Iran has recorded more

than 18,400 infections, accord-

ing to U.S. data, making it the

third-worst affected country

after China and Italy. The out-

break prompted the U.S. and

others to press Tehran to free

prisoners amid reports of the

virus spreading in the coun-

try’s prisons.

Some experts have warned

that fatalities in Iran from the

virus could reach into the mil-

lions, as the government and

public have been slow to re-

spond to the outbreak and the

economy is in free fall due to

the intense pressure of U.S.

sanctions.

Tehran has a history of ar-

resting people with foreign

ties and using them as bar-

gaining chips. Mr. White was

detained on undisclosed

charges in Iran after the

Trump administration pulled

out of the nuclear deal in May

2018. He was trying to leave
      the country with his Iranian
      girlfriend at the time of his de-
      tention.
      The Trump administration
      is working to free other U.S.
      prisoners, according to Brian
      Hook, the senior U.S. envoy for
      Iran policy, who didn’t specify
      how many remain in Iranian
      custody.
      Since the outbreak of the
      new coronavirus, Iran has re-
      leased tens of thousands of
      prisoners on furlough, including
      prominent Iranian political pris-
      oners and British dual national
      Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

WASHINGTON—Iran re-

leased U.S. Navy veteran Mi-

chael White from prison on a

medical furlough to the Swiss

Embassy, the State Depart-

ment said, a response to a

soaring rate of new coronavi-

rus infections in the country.

Mr. White, 48 years old,

was released on the condition

he remains in Iran. The Swiss

Embassy has represented U.S.

interests in the country since

1980. A statement by his fam-
      ily welcomed the decision.
      “We are grateful that the
      Iranian government took this
      interim humanitarian step,”
      the family statement said. “We
      continue to urge them to re-
      lease Michael unconditionally.”
      Separately, President Trump

BYJESSICADONATI

Iran Turns Over Navy Veteran to Swiss

U.S. Navy veteran Michael White

was released for medical reasons.

WHITE FAMILY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

WORLD WATCH

WAR DEBRIS: Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, known as White Helmets, and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters search for victims of a car-bombing near the Turkish border.

BAKR ALKASEM/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

turning point in U.S. energy

policy as the companies be-

hind the shale boom, which

have helped lift U.S. oil pro-

duction to a world-leading 13

million barrels a day, come un-

der extreme pressure.

“There’s never been a de-

mand collapse like this in mod-

ern times,” said Daniel Yergin,

the vice chairman of IHS Markit,

and author of the Pulitzer Prize-

winning oil history “The Prize.”

“The fact that this is on the ta-

ble is a sign of how dire the sit-

uation is for the industry.”

Larger integrated oil com-

panies, including Chevron

Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.,

haven’t advocated for or sup-

port such measures, people fa-

miliar with the matter said.

The Trump administration is

looking broadly for ways to

help the U.S. oil-and-gas indus-

try as dozens of producers now

face bankruptcy amid a global

pandemic. U.S. oil prices are

down about 60% year-to-date.

President Trump has taken

the oil industry’s advice once

this month to intervene in mar-

kets, ordering the Energy De-

partment to start buying crude

to fill the country’s Strategic

Petroleum Reserve. Earlier

Thursday, the department said

though the details of those

possible sanctions and what

Russian action might trigger

them weren’t available.

Mr. Trump, however, said on

Thursday he is “a little torn” on

how to address the two coun-

tries and oil, but that he would

intervene in oil markets at the

“appropriate time.” He said con-

sumers are benefiting from low

gasoline prices even if crashing

crude markets are hurting com-

panies. And he indicated that

Russia might be hurt the most

if futures prices stay low.

The U.S. has imposed sanc-

tions on Russia’s oil sector by

targeting advanced technology

needed to produce from chal-

lenging reservoirs. It has also

blacklisted the head of state oil

firm Rosneft in relation to Mos-

cow’s intervention in Ukraine

and imposed sanctions on Ros-

neft’s trading units for handling

banned Venezuelan crude.

But, like the Obama admin-

istration before it, the Trump

White House has shied away

from targeting Russian oil ex-

ports out of concern that could

escalate diplomatic tensions

that have simmered at levels

not seen since the Cold War.

The U.S. has also avoided a

widespread ban on transac-

tions with Rosneft because of

the unintended consequences

on companies in the U.S. and

other allies across the globe

who are partners with the firm.

While U.S. benchmark crude

prices rebounded on Thursday,

just one day after a plunge that

was the second-largest one-day

decline since 1991, the rebound

still put prices at just $25.22 a

barrel, near a 20-year low.

Oil companies and their

trade groups have visited with

officials at the White House,

Treasury and Commerce de-

partments asking for Trump ad-

ministration help. A ramp-up in

diplomatic intervention was one

of the most common requests,

along with purchases for the re-

serve, several people familiar

with those meetings said.

Oil executives have also

pleaded for relief in Texas,

reaching out to the Texas Rail-

road Commission about the

possibility of curtailing pro-

duction in the state, something

it hasn’t done since the 1970s.

Mr. Sheffield said he was

seeking cuts of about 500,

barrels a day of oil through

year-end, with each operator

cutting about 10% of output

and an exemption for small

producers.

with the matter said.
“We were hoping the
Trump administration could
use that tool in negotiations
with the Saudis and also the
Russians,” said Pioneer Natu-
ral Resources Co. Chief Execu-
tive Scott Sheffield, who said
he has spoken with Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott and regulators in
recent days. “What I’m trying
to do is prevent the oil-and-
gas sector from disappearing
over the next 18 months.”
Gov. Abbott’s office didn’t
respond to a request for com-
ment.
The measures came as U.S.
oil prices rebounded from their
lowest level in 18 years with
their largest one-day percent-
age climb on record, closing
above $25 a barrel on Thursday.
Although it isn’t clear
whether either will ultimately
happen, the ideas represent a

Continued from Page One

Crash Spurs

Bid to Cut

Oil Output

WASHINGTON—The Trump
administration this week sent
a stark message to Iran in
three new rounds of sanc-
tions: The U.S. won’t ease its
economic pressure campaign
even as the coronavirus pan-
demic batters the country.
The Trump administration,
amid growing calls to ease its
sanctions campaign, said it
has no plans to loosen restric-
tions. On Thursday, the Trea-
sury Department sanctioned
five firms, adding to actions
earlier in the week by the
State and Commerce depart-
ments.
Collectively, the new U.S.
steps blacklisted more than a
dozen companies and execu-
tives and five nuclear scien-
tists for allegedly helping ex-
port petroleum products, a
critical revenue source.
“The Trump administration
will continue to target and
isolate those who support the
Iranian regime,” Treasury Sec-
retary Steven Mnuchin said.
“The Iranian regime uses
revenues from petroleum and
petrochemical sales to fund
its terrorist proxies...instead
of the health and well-being
of the Iranian people,” he
said.
The additional sanctions
come as the country struggles
with a pandemic analysts say
could crush an already weak
economy and as some critics
of the Trump administration’s
Iran policy urged a pullback.
“Iran is facing a cata-
strophic toll from the corona-
virus pandemic. U.S. sanctions
should not be contributing to
this humanitarian disaster,”
presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders said Wednesday on
Twitter. “We must lift any
sanctions hurting Iran’s abil-
ity to address this crisis.”
Iran lashed out at the latest
U.S. action.
“New sanctions amidst the
coronavirus pandemic—with
Iran one of the hardest hit—is
beyond cruel, and illustrates
the U.S. administration’s com-
plete lack of humaneness,”
said Alireza Miryousefi, Iran’s
spokesman at its mission to
the United Nations.
In the other moves this
week, the Commerce Depart-
ment on Monday added five
Iranian nuclear scientists to
its export-restrictions black-
list in response to Tehran’s
decision to step up its ura-
nium enrichment operations.
And on Wednesday, the State
Department blacklisted eight
firms and three executives for
allegedly helping Iran sell pet-
rochemical products.
Tehran last week requested
an emergency credit line from
the International Monetary
Fund, the first time it has
done so in six decades.
An IMF spokeswoman said
fund officials have had discus-
sions with Iranian authorities
to better understand their re-
quest for emergency financing.
“The discussions will continue
in the days and weeks ahead,”
the spokeswoman said.

BYIANTALLEY

U.S. Hits

Tehran

With New

Sanctions

IMF

Mnuchin Ally Picked

As No. 2 Official

The International Monetary

Fund formally approved the

Trump administration’s pick to

become the fund’s No. 2 official,

just a week after his name was

proposed, signaling a desire to

coordinate closely with the U.S.

government in providing IMF fi-

nancial support to countries suf-

fering from the economic fallout

of the coronavirus pandemic.

The appointment of Geoffrey

Okamoto, a top international of-

ficial in the U.S. Treasury De-

partment, establishes a tie be-

tween the department and the

IMF, the international lender of

last resort. The IMF has said it

is prepared to make its roughly

$1 trillion lending capacity avail-

able to support the crisis re-

sponse and recovery.

In an interview with The Wall

Street Journal, Mr. Okamoto,

who will be the top American

official at the IMF, said: “The

message is very clear. We’re go-

ing to do whatever it takes to

get to the other side of this.”

The IMF is collectively owned

by its 189 member countries,

but the U.S. is by far the institu-

tion’s largest shareholder and its

support can rapidly accelerate

the fund’s programs.

Mr.Okamoto,35yearsold,

has been the Treasury’s acting

assistant secretary of the Trea-

sury for international finance

and development, where he has

worked closely with Treasury

SecretarySteven Mnuchin for

the past three years.

Mr. Okamoto said he saw his

mission as ensuring the IMF

acts swiftly with its programs,

which can provide funds to de-

stabilized governments.

—Josh Zumbrun

GERMANY

Government Moves

On Far-Right Group

Germany carried out nation-

wide raids on alleged members

of a secretive group who reject

the authority of the state, ad-

here to racist ideologies and

hoard weapons.

Authorities said they had

banned the targeted group,

called United German Peoples

and Tribes, and uncovered guns,

racist propaganda and drugs in

the course of the searches.

The organization is affiliated

with the so-called Citizens of

the Reich, or Reichsbürger, a

loose-knit movement whose ad-

herents reject Germany’s govern-

ment as illegitimate and have

been involved in clashes with

police and other state officials in

recent years.

—Bojan Pancevski

INDIA

Four Men Hanged for

Gang Rape-Murder

India on Friday morning

hanged four men convicted of

the 2012 gang rape and murder

of a 23-year-old student in the

capital, hoping to send the mes-

sage that the nation takes

women’s safety seriously.

The attack, in which the

woman was repeatedly raped

and sexually assaulted with a

metal bar on a moving bus be-

fore being dumped on a road-

side, became one of India’s most

high-profile crimes against

women. The victim, who can’t be

named publicly under Indian law,

died in a Singapore hospital

from her injuries 13 days after

the attack.

The story of the crime that

ended the life of a woman who

was following her dream of

carving a better life for herself

and her family resonated with

people in the world’s largest de-

mocracy as it seeks its own

footing as a rising economic

power. It galvanized public opin-

ion and sparked mass demon-

strations, and demand for action.

It led to the strengthening of

laws and greater public aware-

ness about violence against

women.

Before the execution of the

convicts, numerous pleas and

appeals from them, their families

and lawyers for mercy were

turned down by the courts and

the government. The last failed

plea came hours before they

were hanged at a jail in New

Delhi about 5:30 a.m. Friday.

Talking to the media soon af-

ter the hangings, the mother of

the woman spoke of her daugh-

ter. “I couldn’t save her,” she

said, “but finally she got justice.”

—Krishna Pokharel

An oil tank at Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery and terminal.

AHMED JADALLAH/REUTERS