Iran warns gas sellers against any supply cut
Iran says can fully produce its gasoline needs
Iran's oil minister warned companies that sell gasoline not to halt deliveries to the Islamic Republic in response to Western sanctions moves, saying they would be dropped from its list of suppliers, according to press reports on Thursday.
"If some companies refuse to sell petrol to us... they will be blacklisted and will never be able to sell petrol to Iran in future," business daily Abrar-e Eqtesadi quoted Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi as saying.
His warning came a day after U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey told the Senate Banking Committee that if future talks with Iran failed, "the United States would be obliged to turn to strengthened sanctions."
The new round of sanctions being considered by Washington is targeted at global oil firms exporting petrol to Iran.
The United States and its European allies are exploring ways of targeting fuel imports into Iran if the country continues to press on with its nuclear program.
Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude oil exporter lacks refining capacity to meet its domestic fuel needs and has to import up to 40 percent of its gasoline requirements.
Iranian officials have repeatedly shrugged off the threat of any sanctions measures targeting its fuel imports, saying the country, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), would be able to find sufficient supplies.
If some companies refuse to sell petrol to us,they will be blacklisted and will never be able to sell petrol to Iran in futureIranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi
No worries
"We have no worries in regards to the supply of gasoline ... and we will be purchasing gasoline from any country which provides us with premium gasoline at a reasonable price," Mirkazemi said.
"The possibility of producing 100 percent of the country's gasoline needs currently exists," he said, without giving details."
The West suspects the Islamic state is covertly seeking to develop nuclear weapons, although Iran has vehemently denied it.
While the main oil giants would probably halt supplies to Iran if the United States set new sanctions, China, Malaysia and Russia have stepped into a gap left by India's Reliance and British company BP, which have stopped supplying fuel to Iran.
According to industry sources, oil companies that have supplied fuel to Iran in the last few months include Royal Dutch Shell; Totsa, a unit of Total SA; Vitol, an independent company; Glencore International; Litasco, the trading arm of Russia's LUKOIL; state-run Chinese company Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp.
Domestic gasoline consumption in Iran has risen about six percent per year, despite two years of a rationing scheme to limit consumption, a top official from the National Iranian Oil Company said in May.
Iran's deputy oil minister in charge of planning, Ebrahim Radafzun, said in published remarks on Tuesday that it would need an additional $6.5 billion to help pay for imports of gasoline and diesel fuel during the 2009-10 budget year.
The possibility of producing 100 percent of the country's gasoline needs currently existsIranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi