EU thinks twice about Iran oil ban

EU thinks twice about Iran oil ban

Even though sanctions may likely be implemented by mid-2012, it is becoming increasingly doubtful that an EU-wide ban could be imposed on Iranian Oil, unless China plays along.

December 6, 2011 3:42 by Reuters

“To make sanctions effective, the Europeans would have to go to the Chinese to ask them not to take more oil,” said a senior oil executive, who added that he did not expect sanctions to take place at least until the second quarter of 2012, when seasonal demand eases.

EU politicians have said a decision is unlikely before January at the earliest.

However, industry sources say China has repeatedly shown it is ready to absorb any incremental cheap supplies, especially given that Iran has offered no concession to China or any other buyers in negotiations underway for prices for 2012.

“Plants will be very happy to take more,” said one source at China’s Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner. “It’s definitely good news to Chinese plants if that’s the case.” (By Nidhi Verma and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Meeyoung Cho in Seoul, Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo, Aizhu Chen in Beijing, Jessica Donati, Christopher Johnson, Zaida Espana, Ikuko Kurahone. Editing Richard Mably and Jane Baird)

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Tags: ban, China, EU, Greece, Iran, oil, opec, sanctions, Spain