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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