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Japan, South Korea and international ship insurers discuss abolishment of sanctions over Iran

16 March 2012 10:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Konul Jafarli - APA. Japan, South Korea and international ship insurers are lobbying European Union officials to relax sanctions against Iran that threaten to disrupt the OPEC producerâ€™s oil shipments to Asian buyers, government and industry sources said.

Starting in July, European insurers and reinsurers, who provide cover for 95 percent of the world’s global oil tanker fleet, will be barred from indemnifying vessels carrying Iranian crude and oil products anywhere in the world.

The sanctions are aimed at cutting off Iranâ€™s oil revenue as part of a broader campaign to punish Tehran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.

â€œWe argue that this regulation applies too broadly as it also hits non-European companies. Not only South Korea but also Japan, China and others face the same situation,â€ said a South Korean government source with direct knowledge of the matter.

â€œWe could fail to receive Iranian crude from July 1 if no solution is reached,â€ said the source, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
China, India, Japan and South Korea are Iranâ€™s top four oil customers, buying more than half of the OPEC producer’s exports of 2.6 million barrels per day.

EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss how the blocâ€™s Iran oil embargo will affect shipping insurance at a meeting scheduled in Brussels next Friday, a Japanese industry source said.
â€œItâ€™s possible the meeting will end up being a place of tumult with various opinions being expressed. If a deal is not reached, itâ€™s possible talks could be extended to late April,â€ he said.