Feb 6 (Reuters) - OPEC's second largest producer,
Iran, sells large volumes of oil to China, India, South Korea,
Japan and Italy. But Greece, Turkey, South Africa and Sri Lanka
rely most heavily on Iranian oil as a percentage of their
imports.
EU figures show imports of Iranian crude were up about 7
percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the second
quarter. The EU says it imported about 700,000 barrels per day
(bpd) of Iranian crude oil in the third quarter of 2011,
compared to about 655,000 bpd in the second quarter.
The EU agreed on Jan. 23 to ban Iranian oil imports, but the
embargo will not be fully implemented until July 1, to avoid
harming economies to whom Iran has been a major supplier.
Iran responded with conflicting signals, vowing to stop oil
exports to "some" countries but stopping short of an immediate
halt to crude sales to the European Union, a move some Iranian
officials suggested as retaliation for the embargo.
Iran produces about 3.5 million bpd of crude with another
500,000 bpd of condensate - light hydrocarbon liquids.
Iran exports about 2.6 million bpd, of which about 50,000 bpd is
refined products, the International Energy Agency (IEA)
estimates.
The top 10 buyers of Iranian crude last year were as
follows. Figures for EU countries are from the bloc's Eurostat
office and are for the third quarter. Figures for
other OECD countries are from the IEA and for the second
quarter. Figures for China, India and South Africa are for the
first half of 2011 from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA). Figures for South Korea are for all of
2011 and are from the Korea National Oil Corporation.
Country Imports bpd Percent Imports
1. China 543,000 10
2. India 341,000 11
3. Japan 251,000 5.9
4. South Korea 239,000 9.4
5. Turkey 217,000 30.6
6. Italy 204,000 13.2
7. Spain 170,000 16.2
8. Greece 158,000 53.1
9. S.Africa 98,000 25
10.France 75,000 6.0
Eight European Union countries imported Iranian crude oil in
the third quarter of 2011, Eurostat figures show. Former buyers
of Iranian crude, including the U.K., Austria, Poland, and
Portugal, cut their imports to zero in the third quarter.
Country Imports bpd Percent Imports
1. Italy 204,000 13.2
2. Spain 170,000 16.2
3. Greece 158,000 53.1
4. France 75,000 6.0
5. Belgium 71,000 11.6
6. Netherlands 15,000 1.5
7. Germany 8,000 0.4
8. Czech Republic 1,800 1.4
Sri Lanka imported 39,000 bpd in the first half of the year,
IEA data shows. It is completely reliant on Iranian oil.
Iran holds around 137 billion barrels of proven oil
reserves, or nearly 10 percent of the world total, according to
the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2011.
(Compiled by Yeganeh Torbati and Christopher Johnson)
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
