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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The United States, South Korea and Japan, India, keep buying Iranian oil after its sanctions on Tehran next week, Bloomberg cited in U.S. official as saying.
A gas flare on the oil production platform in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS / Raheb Homavandi / File Photo
Iran's biggest oil customers – all in Asia – have been seeking sanctions that will allow them to continue to sell their products.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that South Korea and Japan had received waivers along with India, which links heavily to Iranian supplies.
A list of all countries getting waivers was expected to be released officially on Monday, Bloomberg said.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
The United States is preparing to impose new sanctions on Iran's oil industry after Washington with a nuclear deal between Tehran and other global powers earlier this year.
But the move has backfired on U.S. President Donald Trump, with the cost of gasoline ahead of U.S. mid-term elections.
It was unclear how much more than 2.5 million barrels a day to 1.5 million bpd in recent weeks.
Goldman Sachs said it expects Iran's crude exports to fall to 1.15 million bpd by the end of the year. During a previous round of sanctions at the start of the decade, Iranian oil exports declined at times to below 1 million bpd.
Iran said on Friday the report on waivers that the market's the country's crude.
"The waivers granted to these eight countries show that the market needs of Iran and the United States of America." I do not know whether these are permanent or temporary, "state TV quoted Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Ali Kardor as saying.
Oil prices LCOc1 rallied this year to a four-year high above $ 85 per barrel on fears Washington may want to cut Iranian oil exports to zero.
But the rally is in the recent years, and it is expected that the market will continue to grow.
On Friday, Brent futures LCOc1 traded flat at around $ 73, having fallen 12 percent since the beginning of October.
WAITING FOR NOTIFICATIONS
A Chinese official told Reuters that discussions with the U.S. government about waivers were ongoing.
"We think Trump will agree to China importing some volumes, similar to the treatment that India and South Korea receive," Clayton Allen said.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry has not yet been made available for comment.
Another country that has been seeking sanctions waiver is Turkey. Turkey's Energy Ministry said on Friday.
Analysts said, however, that waivers would only be temporary.
"The U.S. may use waivers to slow-walk implementation, but these will not apply indefinitely," Allen said.
Among other countries closely connected to Iran's energy system is Iraq, which imports gas via a pipeline. The United Arab Emirates imports large amounts of Iranian oil from Iran for the Sumed pipeline.
Russia has been planning to import oil from Tehran but no major projects have materialized.
Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Aizhu Chen in BEIJING and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL, Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO, Gulsen Solaker in ANKARA; Editing by Richard Pullin, Tom Hogue and Dale Hudson
