JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa did not import any crude oil from Iran for a ninth consecutive month in February, data showed on Thursday, as Pretoria steers clear of the shipments because of sanctions.
South Africa used to import a quarter of its crude from Iran but has come under Western pressure to reduce the purchases as part of sanctions aimed at halting Tehran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In May last year, imports from Iran stood at 285,524 tonnes but since June, Africa's biggest economy has replaced the shipments with crude from other suppliers.
Saudi Arabia was again the major supplier in February with shipments of 719,330 tonnes, data from the South African Revenue Service showed. Other crude imports were from Angola, Nigeria, Russia, Yemen, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, with shipments totalling 1.75 million tonnes.
While the United States extended South Africa's exemption from financial sanctions in December due to the Iranian cuts, Pretoria is still hampered by European Union sanctions that prevent insurance companies from underwriting Iranian shipments.
The EU has not granted any waivers, even though South Africa has been lobbying Brussels because it has to pay more to source crude from countries other than Iran.
Also, some of the South African refineries are designed to treat Iranian-type crude only and require modifications to accept other products.
Refiners in South Africa include Shell, BP, Total, Chevron, petrochemicals group Sasol, and Engen, which is majority-owned by Malaysian state oil group Petronas .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africa-imports-no-iranian-crude-again-february-150858494--sector.html
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