UANI

"Iran's trading partners are looking for ways to avoid being hit by U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil transactions that take effect mid-year, with Turkey looking for other suppliers, India exploring options and smaller Asian countries arguing their imports from Tehran are tiny. Turkey, the fifth-largest buyer of Iranian oil, has committed to reduce its crude from Tehran by 10 percent and the country's only refiner, Tupras, a unit of Koc Holding , has pledged to cut imports by 20 percent... Twelve other countries could eventually be subject to U.S. sanctions by the end of June. A number of Asian countries, including South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, are on Washington's watch list." (Reuters, "Iran's trade partners act toavoid U.S sanctions," 4/22/12)

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"The United States Sunday welcomed Turkey's decision to reduce its purchases of oil from neighbouring Iran by 20 percent.  "I was encouraged to hear Turkey's announcement that it will significantly reduce crude oil imports from Iran," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a press conference in Istanbul where she attended a "Friends of Syria" conference.  "We certainly welcome that announcement," she added.  Turkey's national oil company Tupras Friday said it had cut its purchases of oil from Iran by 20 percent as western nations tighten sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme" (AFP, "US welcomes Turkey cutting Iran oil imports," 4/1/12)

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"Turkey will reduce the amount of oil it buys from Iran by around 10 percent, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Friday, a week after Washington warned Iran's customers they could be subject to U.S. sanctions unless they significantly cut purchases. Turkey will partly replace the oil with 1 million metric tonnes it expects to buy from Libya, Yildiz told reporters... Turkey imports around 200,000 barrels per day of oil from Iran, representing 30 percent of its total imports and more than 7 percent of Iran's oil exports... Turkey's sole refiner Tupras, a unit of Koc Holding, said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange that it would cut its purchases of Iranian crude by 20 percent. Tupras is the main Turkish customer, currently buying some 30 percent of its crude oil from Iran, and it has an 9 million tonnes annual purchase contract." (Reuters, "Turkey to cut Iran oil imports, bows to U.S. pressure," 3/30/12)

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"Turkey will seek a waiver from the United States to exempt its biggest refiner Tupras from new U.S. sanctions on institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, a Turkish energy ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday... U.S. ally Turkey gets about 30 percent of its oil from neighbour Iran, and Tupras - Turkey's biggest crude oil importer, owned by its largest conglomerate, Koc Holding - is a big buyer of Iranian crude... Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Tupras will continue to buy oil from Iran 'until there is a new development'. 'Iran is one of the countries Tupras imports oil from. We have not received information on the new sanctions. Tupras continues to buy oil today,' Yildiz told reporters." (Reuters, "Turkey to seek US waiver on Iran oil -energy official," 1/4/2012)

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"Turkey's biggest crude oil importer Tupras has renewed its annual deal to buy crude oil from Iran for 2012, at almost the same volumes as this year, industry sources familiar with the matter said. They said Tupras had no plans for now to purchase extra amounts from the Islamic Republic... But industry sources said Tupras had no such plans, at least for now. 'I don't think there is such an intention right now,' one trading source said. 'Tupras has become much more commercial since its privatisation. If Iranian crude makes economical sense, they might take on more, if not they wouldn't, as simple as that,' he added... Tupras purchased 7.41 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in 2010, according to a presentation on its website, which makes up for almost 38 percent of the 19.6 million tonnes of crude it refined in 2010... Another industry source said the amount that Tupras agreed to buy for 2012 was 'more or less the same' with that of this year's, which falls in line with the analysts' expectations. Tupras is Turkey's sole refiner with a total capacity of 28.1 million tonnes in four refineries. Since its privatisation bid in 2005, it is owned by Turkey's largest conglomerate Koc Holding." (Reuters, "Turkey's Tupras renews annual Iran crude oil deal," 12/21/2011)

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"Open sources reported that Tupras sold gasoline to Iran in 2010.... [It] notified GAO that it stopped selling gasoline to Iran in July 2010, following the announcement of U.S. sanctions against Iran on July 1, 2010." (U.S. Government Accountability Office, Report: "Firms Reported in Open Sources to Have Sold Iran Refined Petroleum Products between January 1, 2009 and June," September 3, 2010)

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"Tupras, Turkey's sole refiner, purchases about a third of its crude from neighbouring Iran. In June, Turkey provided about half of Iran's gasoline needs, but sales last month dropped 73 percent to $25.6 million, equivalent to about one cargo, as sanctions against Iran took effect... 'In the current situation, sales of petroleum products to Iran are not being made. Therefore, there is no possibility that our company will face any kind of sanctions,' Tupras said." (Reuters, “UPDATE 2-Tupras Q2 net misses forecast, no Iran sales,” 08/23/10)

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“Operating four oil refineries, with a total of 28.1 million tons annual crude oil processing capacity, Tüpraş is Turkey’s largest industrial enterprise. In addition, a 50,000 ton capacity petrochemical production facility, a majority stake (79,98 %) in shipping company DİTAŞ and 40% share ownership of petrol retailer Opet, creates synergies and adds value to the operations. The roots of Tüpraş, an integrated petroleum company with a large market share, corporate reliability, production complexes and affiliates, dates back to İPRAŞ (İstanbul Petrol Rafinerisi A.Ş.) founded by the U.S. Caltex Company. In 1983, İPRAŞ and three other publicly owned refineries were brought under the Tüpraş umbrella by arrangements made for a more effective operation of State Economic Enterprises” (Company website, "About Tupras")

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An article on recent further impacts of the sanctions on Iran reports, "Only three cargoes of gasoline have so far reached Iran in July, according to a shipping document seen by Reuters, much less than the seasonal norm, as new sanctions cause ships carrying fuel to be diverted."  "The document seen by Reuters showed only three cargoes of gasoline had arrived this month and were supplied by Turkish refiner Tupras and Unipec, the trading arm of China's Sinpoec." ("Iran Fuel Imports Nosedive as Sanctions Bite," Reuters, July 26, 2010).

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Following new U.S. sanctions against Iran in July 2010, Tupras is supplying Iran with about half of its gasoline imports: "Iran is depending more on friendly powers in the international arena for fuel supplies after the U.S. passed far-reaching sanctions a week ago that aim to hinder Tehran's fuel imports and deepen its international isolation.  The Islamic Republic is buying around half of its July gasoline imports from Turkey and the rest from Chinese sellers, oil traders said on Thursday, as most other suppliers have stopped selling due to the U.S. sanctions.  Turkish refiner Tupras began supplying gasoline to Iran in June after a hiatus of at least 18 months, trade sources said, just days after Turkey and Brazil brokered a nuclear fuel swap plant with Tehran designed to quell international fears over the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions."  "Iran would import around 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline in July, steady from June, oil traders said. It would take around nine cargoes, four or five of them from Turkey and the rest from Chinese sellers, they said."  "The limited pool of suppliers was driving up the cost of gasoline for Iran and making it harder for the Islamic Republic to buy the quantities it needs, traders said.  "These restrictive measures mean it is getting very serious for Iran," said Mehdi Varzi, a London-based energy consultant. "The oil market is a big market, and they will always find suppliers, but it is getting more difficult and it is costing more."  "Two of the gasoline cargoes coming from Turkey were scheduled to load from Turkish refiner Tupras' Izmit refinery, while two or three were scheduled to load from Tupras' Izmir refinery, sources said. The cargoes would be loaded load onto ships owned by the state energy giant National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), they added.  A Tupras spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment on Thursday" (Webb, Simon, "Iran relies on friendly powers for fuel supplies," Reuters, July, 8 2010).

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"Turkey buys 10 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Iran, which meets about 30 percent of Turkey's domestic needs. Iran is set to receive its first shipment of gasoline from Turkey in at least 18 months in June, industry sources have said.  "Iran supplied Tupras with 3.2 million tonnes of crude in 2009, down from 7.5 in 2008 and 8.86 in 2007, according to a Tupras investor presentation. That makes Iran Turkey's second-biggest supplier after Russia (5.48m T in 2009, 6.57m T in 2008, 9.06m T in 2007)" (“Turkey's economic relations with the Middle East,” Reuters, June 24 2010).

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As of April 2010, Tupras imports 63 thousand barrels of crude oil per day from Iran. ("Iran’s Crude Oil Buyers in Europe, Asia," Reuters, April 18 2010.)