UANI

"Japan's top oil refiner, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, is not facing a problem paying Iran for crude imports, the company said on Thursday, after a major Japanese bank froze transactions with Iranian banks on the order of a U.S. court... A JX Nippon Oil spokesman said there was no problem with payment to Iran at the moment, but declined to discuss other details, including whether it was considering an alternative payment mechanism... Besides JX Nippon, Japan's top buyer of Iranian crude, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, and Cosmo Oil have already renewed term deals to lift Iranian crude from April, industry sources have said. Only JX and Showa Shell have plans to lift Iranian oil in April and May among the Japanese oil firms, industry sources have said." (The New York Times, "Japan's JX: No Problem With Paying Iran for Oil Now," 5/17/2012)

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"Iran is poised to lose at least 192,000 barrels a day of crude-supply contracts, or about 9.5 percent of its global exports, as Asian buyers curb purchases amid western sanctions targeting the nation's oil trade. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) and Essar Oil Ltd., India's biggest buyers of Iranian crude, and China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. have reduced or plan to cut purchases from the Islamic Republic by as much as 15 percent. China and India are Iran's largest customers. In Japan, the only Asian country to get an exemption from U.S. sanctions after it demonstrated reductions in purchases, Cosmo Oil Co. plans to cut imports by 25 percent, while JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. suspended talks with the Persian Gulf nation over a 10,000 barrel-a-day contract." (Bloomberg, "Iran May Lose 9.5% of Oil Contracts as Asian Buyers Cut Imports," 5/3/12)

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 "Japan's top refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp will not be able to continue importing oil from Iran as tightening global sanctions against the Islamic Republic make it tough to pay for, ship and insure the oil, the company's senior executive said. Japan has already drastically cut loading of Iranian crude since April as its refiners cannot rely on the European reinsurance market to cover tankers. Industry sources have said Japanese buyers can no longer import Iran crude from July if the European Union does not grant an exemption from its planned ban on all European reinsurance, including the cover for pollution." (Reuters, "Japan's JX: Iran crude import may stop due to sanction," 4/26/12)

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"Japanese refiners will cut Iranian crude imports yet again in April as they shy away from renewing annual contracts, showing continued commitment to U.S.-led sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme.  Japan, the world's third largest oil consumer, has strongly backed calls to cut Iranian oil imports and earlier reductions were hailed by its top business and military ally, the United States, as an example to other countries...JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Japan's biggest oil refiner, has not renewed a contract to buy 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude, which expired in March, the sources said, declining to be identified as they are not authorised to talk to the media.  Apart from JX, at least three other Japanese firms, including Idemitsu Kosan Co and Cosmo Oil Co, which together buy around 40,000 barrels per day, will not lift any Iranian crude in April, industry sources said. These three do not lift Iranian oil every month."  (Reuters, "Japan refiners deepen Iran crude import cuts,"  4/4/12)

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"Japan's biggest refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp is talking with top exporter Saudi Arabia and other oil producers to source crude to replace any disruption to its imports from Iran, the company's president said on Thursday... 'We've been talking to Saudi Arabia and others on possible scenarios in the case of an import ban (from Iran),' Yasushi Kimura, president of JX Nippon, the wholly-owned downstream oil subsidiary of JX Holdings Inc, told a group of reporters... JX Nippon buys around 70,000 to 80,000 bpd from Iran, industry sources said." (Reuters, "Japan's JX looks to Saudi for oil on Iran worries," 1/5/2012)

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"JAPAN - In 2009, Iran exported about 421,000 bpd of crude to Japan. It was overtaken by Qatar, however, as Japan's third-largest crude supplier.  Many of Japan's top refiners buy Iranian crude, including Showa Shell Sekiyu (5002.T), Nippon Oil (5001.T), Japan Energy, Cosmo Oil (5007.T). Trading house Toyota Tsusho (8105.T) also has a deal to buy crude from the Islamic republic." (Reuters, Iran's crude export and fuel import customers, 4/13/2010)