Three countries granted Iran oil waivers have cut imports to zero.

Catogory : Market Report

WITH US sanction waivers set to expire early next month, three of the eight countries to which Washington granted exemptions to import Iranian oil have now cut their shipments from the country to zero, according to the US special representative for Iran. “In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today that three of those importers are now at zero,” Brian Hook, the US State Department’s special representative for Iran told reporters without identifying the countries.

The US granted temporary waivers or significant reduction exemptions to Italy, Greece, Turkey, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to import Iranian oil. Greece, Italy and Taiwan have already cut to zero all purchases from Iran, with no shipments reported since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, China and India purchased about 3.3m and 2.3m tonnes of crude from Iran in the first two months of 2019.

At present, there are about six ships on the water loaded with Iranian crude destined for China and three to India, Washington re-imposed sanctions against Iran after withdrawing last year from a landmark 2015 agreement under which Tehran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The US administration has a stated goal of reducing Iranian oil exports to zero by demanding importers reduce purchases or face US sanctions.