Oil tankers typically need $1bn worth of insurance coverage. About 95 per cent of the world's tanker fleet purchase such cover from firms in the European Union, but new sanctions which take effect in July will bar European insurers from indemnifying ships carrying Iranian oil products. Insurers from Asian countries are also affected by the sanctions, because they rely on European reinsurers to hedge much of their risk. Japan's leading insurer said last month that it would only be able to provide a fraction of the required coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil. 'They take their own risk' The decision by China's P&I Club eliminates another one of the increasingly scarce sources of insurance coverage. "The China P&I Club will not take the risk," a Hong Kong-based official with the firm told Reuters. "We have asked our members not to go there, [and] if they go there, they take their own risk." Analysts say that governments in some Asian countries may have to fill the gap. The Indian government is reportedly considering a plan to insure tankers after its largest shipping company was forced to cancel a shipment of Iranian crude last month. The Asian market is increasingly important for Iran as it finds itself locked out of other markets. Major oil companies in South Africa and Greece suspended their purchases of Iranian crude earlier this week. The Greek firm, Hellenic Petroleum, cited payment difficulties, with international financial sanctions making it almost impossible to send payment to Iranian banks. Both countries import roughly 100,000 barrels per day from Iran, so their decisions will affect about eight per cent of Iran's total exports. Iranian oil makes up a quarter of South Africa's imports, and nearly one-third of Greece's. Some Asian states are cutting back, as well. Japanese imports from Iran have already fallen by about 28 per cent, according to government statistics, and refiners are planning to further cut back their imports later this month. Even China, the largest importer of Iranian crude, has temporarily reduced imports in recent weeks over payment disputes.
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http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_2849_05/04/2012_436767
Tehran announces end to oil supply
Greek refineries import quantities from Russia and Saudi Arabia and contemplate Iraq
By Chryssa Liaggou
Iran is cutting the supply of oil to Greek companies Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil, according to a broadcast on Tehran-based news station Press TV that was reported by Reuters on Thursday.
The English-language network said that Tehran had stopped supplying the two major Greek refining companies due to problems with bank transactions resulting from reluctance on the part of European banks to get involved due to sanctions on Iran announced by the European Union and the United States.
“No comment” was the response of sources at Hellenic Petroleum who pointed to the firm’s recent statement on the issue saying that the group secures its refineries’ supply of raw materials required from the market and adjusts to conditions as they arise, suggesting that there is no problem with oil supply.
Motor Oil officials stressed yesterday that “the issue with Iran is long closed.” The firm’s deputy managing director, Petros Tzannetakis, has told analysts that he has a basket of supplies that changes depending on availability and opportunities in the market, the officials said.
Nevertheless, energy market sources associated the Press TV and Reuters reports with pressure for the privatization of Hellenic Petroleum and the downgrading of the group’s stock. They add that Greece is among 10 European states that the US has exempted from the economic sanctions because they have significantly reduced their purchases of Iranian oil.
The European Union’s embargo on Iran is due to go into effect on July 1, but banks’ reluctance to conduct transactions with Tehran has forced an end to Greek refineries being supplied with Iranian oil.
A Hellenic Petroleum source told Reuters that the company is currently purchasing quantities of oil mostly from Russia and Saudi Arabia equal to what it would have imported from Iran. In May it will increase purchases from Saudi Arabia and consider buying oil from Iraq, too.
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Petronas Halts all Imports of Iranian Crude in South AfricaTo comply with US and EU economic sanctions against Iran, Engen, a unit of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), and South Africa’s largest importer of Iranian crude, has announced its suspension of all oil imports from the Persian state.
Engen operates the second biggest refinery in South Africa, processing 135,000 barrels a day, and normally buys 80 percent of its crude from Iran. A spokeswoman for the company, Tania Landsberg, said that contingency supplies have been put in place to cover the loss of Iranian crude. Although Shamsul Azhar Abbas, CEO of Petronas, said that whilst alternative supplies have been sought, none have, as of yet, been secured.
The cost to Engen for converting the refinery to handle a different type of oil is estimated to be around $39 million, said Nelisiwe Magubane, director general of the department of energy in South Africa.
The South African government will do all they can to ensure that the higher cost of other oil supplies over Iranian crude will not negatively affect the Engen refinery, or the regional economy in general.
The Natref refinery, which is run by Sasol Ltd. and Total SA, has also halted all imports of Iranian crude, which used to provide about 20 percent of supplies to the refinery.
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