Iran moves to speed ban on oil exports to EUBy Aresu Eqbali in Tehran, with Kate Dourian in Dubai February 8, 2012 - Members of the Iranian parliament are moving to accelerate a bill that would halt oil exports to the European Union ahead of an EU ban on oil imports from Iran that comes into force on July 1, and which would also ban imports of goods from the EU, Iranian news agencies reported February 7. The semi-official Fars news agency said 150 of the 290 deputies had signed a petition in support of the bill, which has yet to be debated. "Deputies are collecting signatures to support the bill that has been almost finalized," Fars quoted lawmaker Parvis Sarvari as saying. "Based on this bill, the government is allowed to take necessary measures for stoppage of oil exports to the European Union. And a committee including the oil minister, related ministers and experts will be set up to examine the issue and take action for an immediate cut in exports," Sarvari said. "The motion...has also another clause that bans imports of goods from the European Union," he said. Another semi-official news agency, Mehr, quoted parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani as saying the assembly was now ready to debate the bill. "The parliament is pursuing this issue [halting Iran's oil exports to Europe] and the national security and foreign policy committee is examining it. And the parliament is ready to debate it," Larijani said in response to earlier comments by lawmaker Javad Karimi Ghodousi. Referring to a call from a students gathering February 6 that had called on the assembly to approve the bill, Karimi Ghodousi said: "After this gathering, the presiding board should put on its agenda two double-urgency motions about the oil exports cut to Europe on the parliament's agenda as soon as possible and debate it." Karimi Ghodousi, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committees, said several European envoys to Tehran had voiced concern about the move to halt exports to the EU. "A while ago, the French, Danish ambassadors and three other ambassadors [to Tehran] met the oil minister [Rostam Ghasemi] and expressed worries over the oil exports cut," he said. Fars, meanwhile, published details of the five-clause motion. "The government is allowed to stop oil sale to those countries that have initiated sanctions of our country's oil as well as those countries that insist on Iran's oil sanctions," Fars reported. "The government is allowed to restrict the traffic of European nationals to our country and also traffic of Iranians to European countries," it continued. "Imports of goods from the countries that have sanctioned Iran's oil are banned," and "the government is obliged to quickly determine other substitute countries for oil sale," it said. In addition, Fars said, "the government is obliged to take necessary actions to process crude oil into oil products." Fars said that once the bill had been submitted to parliament, the presiding board would refer the motion to the relevant parliamentary committees which would respond within a few days, after which the bill would be debated in open session. The EU agreed on January 23 to ban imports of oil from Iran into the EU from July 1. Iran currently supplies some 500,000 b/d of crude to the EU. US financial sanctions against Iran’s central bank signed into law on December 31 make it increasingly difficult to trade oil with Iran. These sanctions were tightened further on February 7 with an Executive Order from President Barack Obama freezing the assets of the Iranian government and its central bank. The West believes Iran is conducting a covert atomic weapons program but Iran has repeatedly rebutted the allegations and insists its nuclear work is peaceful. 'Psychological war' Iran's foreign ministry dismissed the US Executive Order as "psychological war." "When you use your highest capabilities to sanction a nation and yet the people pursue their path even more seriously...it shows that you don't have enough capability to stop a nation," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a weekly press conference broadcast on state television. "These are wrong actions and miscalculations toward a nation," he added. The fact that the Central Bank of Iran did not have banking dealings with the US showed that the objective of the move was to "create a heavy atmosphere of psychological war and propaganda...and cause concern, pressure and social dissatisfaction among our people," Mehmanparast said. "This cannot have any impact on our nation's willpower to achieve their rights," he added. Mehmanparast did not, however, answer questions as to whether Iran had any assets in the US and, if it did, how it could get them back. Iran’s main crude markets are in Asia, and expectations have been that Tehran will seek to reroute eastward the barrels that would normally head to Europe. However, recent weeks have seen US officials travel to Iran's key customers in Asia in hopes of persuading them to reduce their purchases of Iranian crude in exchange for exemptions from the various financial sanctions. At the same time, major Asian buyers of Iranian oil have been shopping for alternative supplies in the event that sanctions against Iran result in lower exports. South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, whose country is under US pressure to lessen its reliance on Iranian oil, arrived in Saudi Arabia February 7 at the start of a Middle Eastern tour to explore expanding energy ties with Seoul's key oil suppliers. Lee is also due to visit Qatar and the UAE. Official Saudi news agency SPA said Lee would attend a cultural event in the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporting nation and South Korea's number one supplier of crude. SPA gave no further details about Lee's visit. However, Lee's office said he was expected to meet Saudi King Abdullah for talks on strengthening cooperation in energy, construction and other areas, according to French news agency AFP. Lee's trip to the Middle East will help South Korea "secure a stable supply of energy resources," AFP quoted his office as saying. Saudi Arabia last year accounted for just over 31% of total oil imports by South Korea, the fifth-largest oil importer in the world and which imports nearly all of its crude oil requirements. Iran is the sixth-biggest supplier after Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and the UAE. Relations between South Korea and Saudi Arabia on the energy front were expanded last year when the two sides signed an agreement to develop nuclear power generation in the kingdom. A similar agreement was signed with the UAE last year. Back in Iran, meanwhile, the Mehr news agency reported that work had begun on the early production phase of the Yadavaran oil field, which is being developed jointly with China. Naji Sadouni, managing director of Iran's state-run Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, also known as PEDEC or Matn, said nine wells in the field had been completed. He also said the field would achieve up to 20,000 b/d of production by mid-March. This is a year later than originally scheduled. "As of today, the tap of oil wells in this border field will open to the Darkhovin [processing] facilities," Mehr quoted Sadouni as saying. In December 2009, Chinese state-owned Sinopec signed a $2 billion agreement to develop Yadavaran, one of the world's biggest discovered but undeveloped oil fields, jointly with PEDEC. China has maintained an active presence in Iran's energy sector despite international sanctions that have dissuaded Western firms from participating in Iranian upstream projects. To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.platts.com |