Indian trader stops purchase of Iranian oil
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:24:15 GMT
An Indian company announces the freezing of its oil trade with Iran amid renewed US efforts to rally international support for sanctions against Iran.
India's Reliance Industries, the second largest private sector conglomerate in the world, announced Sunday that it will no longer buy crude feedstock from Iran, or sell gasoline to the country.
"We do not import crude from Iran, we used to.... We look for cheap oil, we import from Venezuela and other countries," said Maurice Bannayan, a senior vice president at Reliance Industries
Although Bannayan insisted that the decision has absolutely no political dimensions, the move is believed to be in line with US efforts to marshal worldwide pressure against Iran over its enrichment activities.
For months, US officials have warned to target Iran's oil industry as a means to curb the country's nuclear program.
Washington accuses Tehran of nuclear weapons development. Iran says its uranium enrichment is peaceful and the US opposition stems from the fact that the Iranian nuclear technology is home-grown and independent of West.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter but, according to US estimates, the country relies on gasoline imports for 40 percent of its domestic demand.
Earlier in April, a group of American lawmakers that pander to the Israeli interests for political favors from Zionist pressure groups in the US, advocated the imposition of tight and crippling sanctions against countries that sell refined petroleum to Iran.
The idea of gas sanctions against Iran gained momentum after the country announced plans to build its second enrichment facility in a recent letter to the UN nuclear watchdog.
Based in the southern outskirts of Tehran, the Fordo enrichment facility is due to produce enriched uranium up to 5 percent.
"If we want to get their attention, we have to do something real: sanction Iran's gasoline imports," said Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, in a Friday address.
Iranian officials have largely downplayed Washington's threat of gas sanctions, describing such measures 'futile' and 'impossible.'
Ali Asghar Arshi, executive director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), recently said that the country would have no trouble finding new gasoline suppliers, even if Washington goes ahead and imposes sanctions on all the oil firms that deal with Tehran.
We can manage ... we have alternatives and we can do something about consumption as well as production, Arshi said.
To impose an effective ban on Iran's gasoline imports, the US would have to gain the approval of the UN Security Council.
With the strong opposition of Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, gas embargoes are most likely to become a lengthy and costly process for Washington.
The Tehran government recently introduced a bill to cut energy and food subsidies and thus make the country less vulnerable to sanctions.
Indian trader stops purchase of Iranian oil
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:24:15 GMT
An Indian company announces the freezing of its oil trade with Iran amid renewed US efforts to rally international support for sanctions against Iran.
India's Reliance Industries, the second largest private sector conglomerate in the world, announced Sunday that it will no longer buy crude feedstock from Iran, or sell gasoline to the country.
"We do not import crude from Iran, we used to.... We look for cheap oil, we import from Venezuela and other countries," said Maurice Bannayan, a senior vice president at Reliance Industries
Although Bannayan insisted that the decision has absolutely no political dimensions, the move is believed to be in line with US efforts to marshal worldwide pressure against Iran over its enrichment activities.
For months, US officials have warned to target Iran's oil industry as a means to curb the country's nuclear program.
Washington accuses Tehran of nuclear weapons development. Iran says its uranium enrichment is peaceful and the US opposition stems from the fact that the Iranian nuclear technology is home-grown and independent of West.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter but, according to US estimates, the country relies on gasoline imports for 40 percent of its domestic demand.
Earlier in April, a group of American lawmakers that pander to the Israeli interests for political favors from Zionist pressure groups in the US, advocated the imposition of tight and crippling sanctions against countries that sell refined petroleum to Iran.
The idea of gas sanctions against Iran gained momentum after the country announced plans to build its second enrichment facility in a recent letter to the UN nuclear watchdog.
Based in the southern outskirts of Tehran, the Fordo enrichment facility is due to produce enriched uranium up to 5 percent.
"If we want to get their attention, we have to do something real: sanction Iran's gasoline imports," said Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, in a Friday address.
Iranian officials have largely downplayed Washington's threat of gas sanctions, describing such measures 'futile' and 'impossible.'
Ali Asghar Arshi, executive director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), recently said that the country would have no trouble finding new gasoline suppliers, even if Washington goes ahead and imposes sanctions on all the oil firms that deal with Tehran.
We can manage ... we have alternatives and we can do something about consumption as well as production, Arshi said.
To impose an effective ban on Iran's gasoline imports, the US would have to gain the approval of the UN Security Council.
With the strong opposition of Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, gas embargoes are most likely to become a lengthy and costly process for Washington.
The Tehran government recently introduced a bill to cut energy and food subsidies and thus make the country less vulnerable to sanctions.
Indian trader stops purchase of Iranian oil
