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Noose Tightens Around Iranian Oil Exports
(Washington Post) Steven Mufson and Joby Warrick - In January, China, South Korea and Singapore sharply cut their oil purchases from Iran. Last month, Shipping Corp. of India canceled an Iranian shipment because its European insurers refused to provide coverage for the tanker. And Japanese oil refiners have asked for clauses to be added to oil-purchase contracts so they can back out if they can't obtain tanker insurance. "Iran is scrambling to find buyers, but other countries are also scrambling to diversify away from what they see as risky supply," said Richard Meade, editor of Lloyd's List. Roger Diwan, an oil expert at PFC Energy, said Iran would have trouble finding customers with an appetite for the more than 600,000 barrels a day that Europe will no longer import. He said that before the end of the year, "the Iranians will have half a million barrels a day shut in."