• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 35 mins GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 31 mins How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 2 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 5 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 15 hours Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 4 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)
U.S. Mills Hike Steel Prices to Halt Bearish Trend

U.S. Mills Hike Steel Prices to Halt Bearish Trend

Steel prices continue to fall…

Japanese Refiners To Stop Iran Oil Purchases By April

Japanese refiners are unlikely to continue buying Iranian crude from April onwards, the president of the Petroleum Association of Japan said as quoted by Reuters.

However, Takashi Tsukuoka added they would continue importing Iranian crude if Tokyo agreed on a sanction waiver extension, which it was currently negotiating with Washington.

This makes Japan the second country to try and negotiate a waiver extension, after India entered identical talks earlier this month. Washington has signaled it would probably agree to some form of an extension as long as the importing countries agree to reduce their intake of Iranian crude.

Japan has been very strict in following Washington’s lead in the sanction department, but it has also indicated that finding an alternative to Iranian crude might be tough.

“Japan has told the U.S. that the sanctions should not negatively affect Japan’s stable supply of energy and Japanese companies’ operations,” one government official in Tokyo said, commenting on the waiver negotiations to Reuters.

Japanese refiners stopped buying Iranian crude ahead of the November 4, 2018, deadline set by Washington to all countries doing business with Iran before economic sanctions returned. A month later, Tsukuoka told media local refiners would restart buying Iranian crude in January, adding "We aim to lift as much as possible over January-March to keep our hope for the next [period]."

Before the U.S. sanctions snapped back, Iran accounted for 5 percent of Japan’s crude oil intake, and as Tsukioka said last September, Tokyo was going to try to maintain a good relationship with Tehran despite the sanctions.

This will be difficult to accomplish in light of Washington’s plans to gradually press Iranian oil exports as low as they can get without plunging the oil market into a panic that would cause prices to shoot up.

ADVERTISEMENT

Japan—like Iran’s other major imports including China, India, and South Korea—is highly dependent on imported fuels.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News