Costumers of Iran’s oil attempt to renew their sanction waivers to continue dealing with Iran

Tabnak – As the temporary sanctions waivers issued for the costumers of Iran’s oil is expiring, various countries are signaling desire to push the US for renewing the waiver. Meanwhile, the American officials are reportedly divided over whether or not to extend their previously-announced deadline.

In this vein, South Korea says its officials will meet US authorities on Wednesday and Thursday to press them on extending waivers for oil imports from Iran which is under American sanctions.

South Korea's imports of Iranian oil more than quadrupled in February from a month ago, nearing levels before US sanctions on Tehran, Yonhap news agency reported this month.

Yoon Kang-hyun, South Korea’s deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, and other leaders will meet US special representative for Iran Brian Hook on Wednesday and US State Department’s top energy diplomat Francis Fannon on Thursday to discuss extending the Iran trade waiver.

The waiver issued in November for South Korea and other key importers of Iranian oil expires in May, with the Trump administration saying it wants to choke the lifeblood of Iran’s economy as quickly as possible.

Washington issued sanctions waivers for eight economies in November, including for South Korea, Iran’s fourth largest oil customer in Asia. But the administration has said it wants the exports to go to zero.

The U.S. goal is to reduce the number of sanctions waivers and to cut Iran’s oil exports about 20 percent, to below 1 million barrels of oil per day from May, sources said this month.

Meanwhile, The Daily Brief reports that Hawkish members of the US administration have pushed for waivers to expire, but others have highlighted that removing most of Iran’s 1.3 million bpd could produce significant price volatility. This would leave the US reliant on OPEC to fill any shortfalls in global markets, which has opposed lifting output recently.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said America’s newfound shale oil and natural gas abundance would “strengthen our hand in foreign policy”.

The United States has imposed harsh sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, removing more than 2 million bpd of oil from daily global supply. However, data released by the General Administration of Customs on Monday showed China is doubling down on purchases of oil from both of the OPEC producers.

The world’s biggest crude importer bought 2.03 million tonnes, or 531,000 barrels a day, of crude from Venezuela last month, 17 percent more than January and the highest since December 2017, the customs data showed.

Imports from Iran rose 22 percent from a month earlier to 1.96 million tons, Bloomberg reported. The report came as the US government issued an alert, warning the oil shipping industry against flouting its unilateral sanctions against Syria and Iran.