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BCN-01
JAPAN-IRAN-US-ECONOMY-SANCTION
Japan to halt Iran oil imports under US pressure: reports
TOKYO, Sept 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japan’s major oil wholesalers are
preparing to suspend crude oil imports from Iran in October, amid fears
Washington will sanction countries importing Iranian crude, local media
reported.
US President Donald Trump in May pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal with
Iran and last month began reimposing sanctions that block other countries
from trading with Iran.
A second phase of sanctions targeting Iran’s crucial oil industry and
banking sector will be reinstated on November 5.
Japan has been seeking a waiver that would allow it to continue importing
Iranian oil, but it appears unlikely to win one, Jiji Press agency and other
local media reported in recent days.
As a result, Japanese oil companies are preparing to halt imports of
Iranian crude and researching ways to increase imports from elsewhere to make
up the shortfall, the reports said.
A trade ministry official on Monday confirmed Japan had raised the issue
of a waiver in talks with the US but declined to comment further.
Oil importers declined to confirm they were contingency planning for a
halt in Iranian imports.
“We’ve been saying we will observe a government decision (on Iranian oil
imports), but we can’t comment further as we don’t disclose information on
individual trades,” a spokeswoman for wholesaler Showa Shell Sekiyu told AFP
on Monday.
Wholesaler JXTG also declined to confirm the report.
Resource-pour Japan relies heavily on imports of oil from the Middle East,
though crude from Iran accounted for just 5.3 percent of the country’s total
imports last year.
BSS/AFP/HR/0930