South Korea Denies Halting Oil and Gas Imports from Iran

The South Korean embassy in Tehran denied a Reuters report claiming that it had halted oil and gas condensate imports from Iran this month, stating that the country is negotiating with the United States for an exemption from restrictions on purchasing Iranian oil. On Saturday, July 6, the embassy announced on its Twitter account that the loading of oil tankers and the purchase of oil from Iran will continue in July. Reuters reported on Friday, July 5, that South Korea, Iran's third-largest Asian oil customer, would not purchase oil and gas condensate from Iran in July. However, the South Korean embassy in Tehran tweeted the next day that South Korea "rejects any claims regarding the non-loading of Iranian oil and gas condensate in July." According to a table released by Brian Hook, the U.S. State Department's policy director, a new round of sanctions that includes Iran's automotive industry and gold trade will begin on August 4, and sanctions on oil, energy, and banking transactions will commence on November 4. However, since Iranian oil shipments arrive one month after purchase, Iranian customers, if they do not receive an exemption from the U.S., will have to stop buying oil from the Islamic Republic one month prior, starting in October. South Korea and Japan, two major oil buyers from Iran, reported on Wednesday, July 1, that they were negotiating with the U.S. government for exemptions from the Islamic Republic's sanctions. Both countries had previously obtained such exemptions from the U.S. during the last round of sanctions, which ended in 2015 with the JCPOA. Details on Iran's oil exports to Asian countries for the past month have not yet been released, but South Korea purchased nearly 296,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran in the first five months of the year, making it the largest Asian customer of Iranian oil after China and India. Total Iranian oil exports to China, India, South Korea, and Japan in the first five months of the year were nearly 1.7 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, Sanjeev Singh, the director of the Indian Oil refinery, stated on Tuesday, July 2, that the Indian government's position on Iran's sanctions is still unclear, but it has asked refineries to be prepared for a complete halt in Iranian oil purchases. In the previous round of sanctions, the U.S. had asked Iranian oil customers to "significantly" (about 20 percent) reduce their purchases every six months. With this trend, over three years, Iran's oil exports were halved to one million barrels per day. At that time, Iran was only required to receive payment for its oil exports in the currency of that country, and this money could only be used to purchase goods from that country and for imports to Iran.