Iran Stops Exporting Crude Oil to British, French Companies, Shana Reports

By Ladane Nasseri - Feb 20, 2012 6:00 AM GMT+0700

Iran halted crude exports to French and British companies, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, citing Alireza Nikzad Rahbar, a ministry spokesman.

Iran “will give its crude oil to new customers instead of French and U.K. companies,” Rahbar said. The halt followed a warning by the oil minister that the Persian Gulf country might act preemptively ahead of a European Union ban on purchases of Iranian crude planned to start in July, he said without giving further details, according to the report yesterday.

The suspension of Iranian exports comes amid rising tension in the Gulf over Iran’s nuclear program, which has prompted the EU and the U.S. to impose additional sanctions against Iran, restricting trade and financial transactions. Iran, the second- largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia, is already under four rounds of United Nations sanctions.

Iran threatened to halt oil shipments to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, France and the Netherlands when it summoned their ambassadors to the Foreign Ministry on Feb. 15 to protest against the EU’s punitive measures, state media reported. Iran would end sales of crude to the six countries unless they agreed to long-term contracts and payment guarantees, state-run Press TV reported that day, without citing anyone.

French, British Imports

EU nations together bought 18 percent of Iran’s exports of crude oil and condensates, or 452,000 barrels a day, in the first half of 2011, according to the most recent data on the website of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. France purchased 2 percent of Iran’s shipments, or 49,000 barrels a day, while the U.K. took less than 1 percent, the data showed.

Telephone calls for comment to the French foreign ministry went unanswered yesterday. A spokesman for Total SA (FP), France’s largest oil company, didn’t answer calls to his mobile phone, nor did he respond immediately to an e-mail. Total Chief Executive Officer Christophe De Margerie told Bloomberg TV in a Jan. 27 interview in Davos that the Paris-based company had already stopped buying Iranian crude.

An official for Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), the biggest European energy company, said she had no comment when Bloomberg contacted her by phone in London, declining to be identified due to company policy. BP Plc (BP/) doesn’t buy Iranian crude, David Nicholas, a London-based spokesman, said by phone.

Iran produced 3.545 million barrels a day of crude in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Iranian exports in 2010 averaged 2.154 million barrels a day, EIA data showed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Dubai at lnasseri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bruce Stanley at bstanley5@bloomberg.net