Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law last week imposing tough new sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, hoping to curb Teheran’s nuclear enrichment activities.
July 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law last week imposing tough new sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, hoping to curb Teheran’s nuclear enrichment activities.
The West fears the nuclear enrichment could lead Iran to make a bomb, something Tehran denies it wants.
Some major oil companies have stopped jet fuel supplies to Iranian aircraft outside Iran and the London insurance market will not cover petroleum shipments going to Iran.
Following are the key points of the latest development to fuel supplies to Iran.
U.S. SANCTIONS
* U.S. laws would sanction any company worldwide that exports gasoline or other refined petroleum products to Iran.
* Washington has not spelled out whether its new sanctions are intended to require firms to refuse to fuel Iranian jets at airports in third countries.
* The United States does not import crude oil from Iran.
JET FUEL
* Oil major Royal Dutch Shell will not renew its contracts to supply Iran Air with jet fuel in response to pressure from the U.S. to cease business with the Islamic republic, an industry source said on Thursday.
* Other oil majors, such as BP, have said they will comply with international sanctions.
* Industry sources said French major Total supplies jet fuel to Iranian aircraft.
* Two Iranian aircraft took off from a German airport this week without refuelling, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
* Reports this week said aircraft had been denied fuel in Germany, Britain and a Gulf Arab state due to U.S. sanctions.
GASOLINE EXPORTS
* Iran is the world’s fifth largest crude exporter and a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC). But it has to import some refined oil products to meet domestic demand due to a lack of sufficient refining capacity.
* Lloyd’s of London will not insure or reinsure petroleum shipments going into Iran, the insurance market said on Friday.
* The Islamic Republic is buying around half of its July gasoline imports from Turkey and the rest from Chinese sellers, oil traders said, as most other suppliers have stopped selling due to the U.S. sanctions.
* Many gasoline sellers stopped trading with Iran in anticipation of the U.S. sanctions. Total in June joined the growing list of those that had stopped sales.
* Shell, BP, India’s Reliance Industries and independent Swiss trader Glencore are among suppliers that have already either stopped fuel sales to Iran or have made a decision not to enter into new trading agreements with Iran.
* Russian oil major LUKOIL will cease gasoline sales to Iran, industry sources said in April.
* Malaysia’s Petronas has stopped supplying gasoline to Iran, a company spokesman said in April.
UPSTREAM PROJECTS IN IRAN
* Repsol has pulled out of a contract it won with Shell to develop part of the South Pars gas field in Iran.
* Italy’s oil and gas major Eni is handing the operation of Darkhovin oilfield in Iran to local partners to avoid U.S. sanctions, Eni told U.S. authorities on April 29. (Complied by Ikuko Kurahone; editing by Keiron Henderson)
