BREAKING NEWS,19.02.2012.

Iran halts oil sales to Britain, France

 President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking on TV 

Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said today, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.” Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website. The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this. Iran’s oil minister said on February 4 the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries. The European Commission said last week the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days. Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 Iran's top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third - or over 300,000 barrels daily. France’s Total has already stopped buying Iran's crude, which is subject to fresh EU embargoes. Market sources said Royal Dutch Shell has scaled back sharply. Among European nations, debt-ridden Greece is most exposed to Iranian oil disruption. Motor Oil Hellas of Greece was thought to have cut out Iranian crude altogether and compatriot Hellenic Petroleum along with Spain's Cepsa and Repsol were curbing imports from Iran.Iran was supplying more than 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the EU plus Turkey in 2011, industry sources said. By the start of this year imports had sunk to about 650,000 bpd as some customers cut back in anticipation of an EU ban. Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to supply extra oil either by topping up existing term contracts or by making rare spot market sales. Iran has criticised Riyadh for the offer. Iran said the cut will have no impact on its crude sales, warning any sanctions on its oil will raise international crude prices. Brent crude oil prices were up $1 a barrel to $118.35 shortly after Iran's state media announced last week Tehran had cut oil exports to six European states. The report was denied shortly afterwards by Iranian officials."We have our own customers ... The replacements for these companies have been considered by Iran," Nikzad said. EU's new sanctions includes a range of extra restrictions on Iran that went well beyond UN sanctions agreed last month and included a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran's lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining. The mounting sanctions are aimed at putting financial pressure on the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter, which has little refining capacity and has to import about 40% of its gasoline needs for its domestic consumption.

NEWS,29.01.2012.

EU could face long-term oil ban from Iran

Iran is considering banning all oil exports to the European Union (EU) for five to 15 years, a senior Iranian lawmaker was quoted as saying, while its deputy oil minister said prices would surge if the EU stopped importing Iranian crude. Iranian lawmakers had been expected to debate a bill today to ban exports of Iranian crude to Europe in a move calculated to hit ailing European economies before an EU-wide ban on any Iranian oil comes into effect in July.Emad Hosseini, a member of Iran's Energy Commission, told the semi-official Mehr news agency no draft bill had been drawn up but that lawmakers were considering a preemptive ban on oil exports to the EU, while a member of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said any ban would last at least five years."We will change the threat into an opportunity for Iran and cut Iran's oil supplies to the Europeans for five to 15 years," Mohammad Karim Abedi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency today.” We will not leave enemies' sanctions unanswered and we will impose other sanctions on them in addition to closing Iran's oil supplies to Europe.

"EU imports of Iranian crude rose to about 700,000 bpd in the third quarter Last year, up more than 7% from the second quarter, with some of Europe's most fragile economies among the biggest buyers.” Banning oil imports from the Islamic Republic of Iran, but delaying the implementation of this ban for six months indicates Europe's fear," the Vice-Chairman of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Hossein Ebrahimi, told Fars.Escalating tensions between Iran and Western allies over Tehran's nuclear programme, particularly Iranian threats to close the vital Straits of Hormuz Gulf oil export route, have helped push up Brent crude prices by about $15a barrel since mid December. Benchmark Brent crude prices rose to around $150,00 a barrel on Friday on expectations Iran's parliament could vote to halt exports to the EU next week and Iran's deputy oil minister said on Sunday oil prices could hit $182 a barrel because of the EU ban.” Although a precise prediction cannot be made on oil prices, it seems we will witness a $120  to $150 oil price per barrel in future," Ahmad Qalebani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying. But analysts say the world is likely to have more oil this summer - thanks to additional output from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya that will make up for any lost from Iran under the EU ban - which could weigh on oil prices.At the same time, demand for cheap Iranian oil from China and other Asian countries that do not back Western sanctions may mean world oil flows are merely diverted rather than cut, although some of Europe's shakiest economies may have to pay more for alternative supplies. China and India have made clear they are keen to soak up any spare Iranian oil, even as US Treasury measures to choke Tehran's dollar trade make it harder to pay for supplies.Qalebani said Iran would have no problem selling any oil it does not export to Europe and that India would remain a good customer of Iranian oil despite running up debts of $9.7 billion dollars due to US efforts to block oil payments to Tehran. Europe and the United States hope that tougher sanctions aimed at starving Iran of oil revenues can force Tehran to stop a nuclear development programme that Iran says is purely for energy purposes but which the Western allies suspect includes a weapons programme. It is now unclear when Iranian lawmakers will vote on Iran's response to the January 23 decision by the 27 EU member states to stop all their imports of Iranian oil from July 1.Hosseini said any proposal would first have to be discussed by the Energy Commission and then other key government officials before being submitted to parliament for approval.