Buyers continue to halt Iranian imports as sanctions loom.

摘要

As the resumption of Iranian sanctions moves closer, buyers of Iranian crude continue to halt imports to comply with the upcoming sanctions. Three sources familiar with the issue said on Sept. 20 that India's Chetinai Petroleum, in which Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Co. Ltd. owns a 15.4% stake, will stop processing Iranian crude starting next month to maintain its insurance coverage. Chennai, which operates two refineries with a combined capacity of 230K b/d, was set to import 1MM bbl of Iranian crude next month but has canceled this volume after its insurance provider, United India Insurance, informed Chennai that its new annual policy that is set to take effect from Oct. will not cover any liability related to processing Iranian crude. Chennai has a deal to import up to 2MM mt (40K b/d) of Iranian crude in fiscal year 2018/19.