Iran Oil Sanctions Set to Shrink the Circle of Foreign Buyers

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Bloomberg News

Iran faces new hurdles to getting paid for its oil as the U.S. tightens financial sanctions to deter buyers from the world’s third-largest crude exporter.

The U.S. approved additional curbs on Iran’s banking system and oil industry on Nov. 21, hoping to thwart the country’s nuclear program, and the European Union may follow. Current sanctions have led Indian importers to route payments for Iranian crude through a Turkish bank. These refiners, concerned Turkey may stop cooperating amid the latest U.S. rules, are asking banks in Russia to arrange alternatives, said three people with direct knowledge of the situation.

“The idea of the sanctions is to shrink the circle of buyers and so increase their ability to extract discounts from Iran,” said Robin Mills, an analyst at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting, who worked for a decade at Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) in the Middle East.

The U.S. is stepping up pressure after a Nov. 8 report from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that Iran was working on a nuclear weapons program. At stake is crude supply from the OPEC nation, whose exports last year were exceeded only by those of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Oil is Iran’s main source of income, earning it $56 billion in the first seven months of 2011, according to U.S. Energy Department estimates.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/iran-financial-sanctions-set-to-shrink-circle-of-foreign-buyers-of-crude.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Raising the price of gas?

[cosmicone]

2. This is like cutting our nose to spite our face ...

and to placate Israel.

Pakistan is a terrorist state with nukes and we give them aid while trying to squeeze Tehran.

Hypocrisy at its worst.

[dipsydoodle]

4. The main issue here

is that given Iran is the world's 3rd largest producer of oil then shutting down access means that the likes of India would need to switch to other OPEC suppliers which will in turn drive up the price of oil.

[Muskypundit]

3. We must be not buying oil for oil!!!!!!!!!

Damn us imperialist pigs.

(sorry I had to)

[Tempest]

5. If I were China, I'd be licking my chops

Lot of back door ways of getting Iran's oil to fuel their economy.

It's an economic battle and China is in it to win.

[Prometheus Bound]

7. Not to mention the attractive discount they must be getting.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Aways helps

being able to pay in Euros.

[The Stranger]

6. The American Government's bizarre obsession with Iran and Iraq continues.

I'm guessing China doesn't mind. Nor the Russian bankers.

[marasinghe]

9. truly. and the idiots in charge don't seem to appreciate the obvious; that:

if Russia wants their neighbor to have nukes - they will have them - notwithstanding the hypocritical bullshit from a bunch of hyper-militarized war mongrels. and, if Russia doesn't want a shooting war in their back alley, they will not allow it to occur.

meanwhile, these same common-sense deprived jerks, continue to ignore the best avenue of change in Iran: the young kids who came out on the streets in 2009.