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Source: https://www.ft.com/content/6eef944e-c6ef-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9
Oil Industry Snubs EU Effort to Defy U.S. Sanctions on Iran
(Financial Times-UK) Michael Peel - Big European oil companies are spurning the EU's attempt to shield Iranian crude from U.S. sanctions because of fears the effort would leave businesses exposed to harsh penalties from the Trump administration. Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total, said this week the French oil company would not join EU efforts to bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran. "We cannot afford to take the risk to be banned from using the U.S. financial system," he said. U.S. sanctions are due to be reimposed on oil exports and Iran's central bank in November. A spokesperson for Italy's Eni said: "We have no presence in [Iran] anymore and our trading contracts will naturally expire in November." In mid-October, a CEPSA refinery in Spain is due to receive 1 million barrels from Iran, a shipment that a company spokesman stressed would be its last from Iran. Iranian oil shipments to Europe have already fallen in September from 843,000 barrels a day a year ago to 422,000. A survey of 10 oil trading executives by the Financial Times did not uncover any willing to trade Iranian crude.