Tabnak – Despite vowing to cut Iran’s oil exports down to zero by November this year, the United States is now sees itself facing a mission impossible. As a result, not only the US administration is now considering some sanctions waivers for Iran’s partners, but also Tehran itself is looking for new ways to get over Washington’s pressures.
The US administration has beaten its first retreat on planned sanctions against Iran, allowing a gas field partly owned by the Islamic Republic in the North Sea to keep operating.
The Rhum field northeast of Aberdeen, which supplies around 5 percent of Britain’s gas demand, has now received a new operation license from the US Treasury, UK-listed producer Serica Energy said on Tuesday.
The license also allows Serica to complete its acquisition of BP’s 50 percent stake in the offshore field, making it a new partner of the Iranian National Oil Company which holds the other 50 percent.
Under the license which is valid until October 31, 2019 but may be renewed, Iran’s proceeds from the field will be held in an escrow account while sanctions are in place. BP announced in May that it had halted work on Rhum as Serica said it was looking to secure a waiver from renewed US sanctions against Iran.
“Subject to the fulfillment of the conditions, the license will allow certain US and US-owned or controlled entities to provide goods, services and support involving Rhum,” Serica said in a statement on Tuesday.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “has also provided an assurance that non-US entities providing goods, services and support involving Rhum will not be exposed to US secondary sanctions", it said.
Meanwhile, it’s reported that Iran is streamlining its oil export modalities and testing creative ways to thwart new US sanctions which are to kick in on November 4.
A vessel carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian oil was reported on Tuesday to have discharged the crude into a bonded storage tank at the port of Dalian in northeast China. Keeping oil in bonded storage gives the shipment owner the option to sell into China or to other buyers in the region, Reuters news agency reported.
Three other very large crude carriers, operated by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), are set to arrive in Dalian in the next week or two, it said.
China has pledged to ignore US sanctions and keep buying Iranian oil. India and Turkey have also dismissed the unilateral American measures. China and India are the first and second biggest customers of Iranian oil, while Turkey is the biggest buyer of Iran’s oil in Europe.
Iran says its oil flow to the market should not be hampered no matter what as Western oil news and information providers are steadily claiming declines in Iran’s exports, putting them at about 1.7 million bpd ahead of the sanctions.
