Iran can find alternative customers for EU oil: Total CEO

 

London (Platts)--20Feb2012/551 am EST/1051 GMT


The head of France's Total, Christophe de Margerie, said Monday the company is currently sourcing crude from Saudi Arabia and other sources to replace oil it imported from Iran before it halted purchases.

De Margerie, speaking to reporters in London, also said Total was not suffering having halted Iranian oil imports, but conceded it was "embarrassing" to have to find alternative crude.

"It's embarrassing to have to find alternative sources, but the message from the trading division is that they are not suffering," de Margerie said.

"We have access to Saudi crude and other sources of crude," he said.

De Margerie's comments came after Iran's oil ministry said Sunday it had stopped exporting crude to the UK and France, a largely symbolic move that appears to target the two countries that were the strongest advocates of an EU oil ban.

Total, however, had already halted purchases of Iranian oil ahead of the move from Tehran.

The EU on January 23 agreed to ban the import and transport of Iranian oil from July 1, giving companies several months to withdraw from existing contracts and find alternative supplies.

De Margerie said the volumes of Iranian oil affected by the EU ban were small, and should not affect the global market. He said Iranian exports to OECD markets amounted to only around 700,000 b/d.

"Can they [Iran] find customers for this? I think they can. Is it hurting their traditional routes? Yes, but I don't see why this should trigger any additional price for crude oil," he said.

De Margerie did say, though, that the speculation around the EU's embargo on Iranian oil was what was pushing the market higher.

"All the noise on whether [the ban] will affect the price is what is affecting the price," he said.

--Stuart Elliott, stuart_elliott@platts.com

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