Posted on 04/16/2010 7:52:07 AM PDT by jhpigott
by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) April 15, 2010
Malaysia's state oil company has suspended gasoline supplies to Iran, Prime Minister Najib Razak said here Thursday, calling on Tehran to review its controversial nuclear program.
The announcement of the suspension by Petronas came after Najib held talks with US President Barack Obama, who called for the world to move "boldly and quickly" on new Iran sanctions on the sidelines of a 47-nation nuclear security summit this week. "It is a decision made by Petronas. They did consult with the government but they took the decision to suspend the sales," predominantly-Muslim Malaysia's leader Najib told reporters in Washington as he wound up a four-day visit.
He did not say when Petronas stopped supplying gasoline to Iran but some reports said it was done in the middle of March.
Petronas is among a small group of non-Chinese oil companies supplying gasoline to the Islamic republic, which is the world's fifth-largest crude oil exporter.
"We really want Iran to comply with the UN decison of the Security Council and we maintain our position that Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Najib said.
"But they must earn the trust of the international community and the only way they can earn the trust is to be fully transparent in whatever they do and allow full verification by the IAEA and there are some serious doubt as to whether this has been carried out or has been complied with by Iran," he said.
Iran has been accused by the United States and its allies of covertly working on a nuclear weapon but the Islamic republic says it is pursuing only civilian power. A member of the OPEC cartel, Iran has been languishing in a dearth of investment in petroleum refineries as a result of US sanctions. It has resorted to importing about 40 percent of its gasoline needs.
Najib agreed in talks with Obama that the global community should send a "clear signal" to Iran over its nuclear program, the White House had said.
The Malaysian decision was announced as envoys of six world powers held another closed-door meeting in New York Thursday on a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran.
Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany -- met for a second straight day after huddling for more than three hours Wednesday in what they described as "constructive" substantive talks on the issue.
On the table was a US draft resolution outlining sanctions in five areas: arms embargo, energy, shipping, finance and targeted punitive measures against Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, a diplomat familiar with the discussions said.
Last October, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog, drew up a plan for Iran to ship out most of its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium in return for the supply by France and Russia of uranium enriched to the 20 percent level required for a Tehran medical research reactor.
Iran balked at the stipulation that it ship out the uranium before receiving any fuel and last month started enriching uranium to 20 percent itself.
The move, launched before the IAEA could install monitoring equipment, angered the European Union and the United States which began intense lobbying for tough new UN sanctions.
Najib said Patronas would "certainly" lift its suspension on gasoline supplies if Iran complied with the IAEA. "We believe in engagement but Iran has to respond as well and there are some clear indication of their non compliance," he said.
1) Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol pulled out in March http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/182087
2) Shell also pulled out in March http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3860902,00.html ^
3) Russia's Lukoil has pulled out earlier this month http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3872694,00.html
. . . and now another one of Iran's largest gas suppliers is jumping ship
ping
The Mouse That Roared
you mean to tell me....Iminthemoodforjihad, with all his oil dollars, can’t free up a billion or 10 to build a refinery???
what a piece of work.
The flip side of this coin is that there may be some corresponding diminution of Iranian crude sales. One can only wonder if Iraq or the Gulf states are picking up the slack to the refiners needing crude that may no longer be available from Iran.
One more thought.
It was similar air choking sanctions against Japan that led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor
my thoughts are two fold -
1) Israel since the beginning of this year has been pleading for the international community to levy “crippling” sanctions on Iran, namely targeting their energy sector. Obviously, Russia and China have been getting in the way of that happening. It looks like any new sanctions are going to be watered down. That being said, it looks like sufficient pressure is being applied behind the scenes that, in effect, is hurting the Iranian energy sector.
2) Iran soon may not be a fun place to be, if things start to go “boom”. Maybe these companies suspect a conflict is coming and are bugging out before the fireworks begin.
Nothong will stop Iram from haveinng a nuclear weapon and using it to blackmail the world.They will control ALL gas and oil inthe region. The smart companies are getting out now.
This is a sign of war to come.
.....Maybe these companies suspect a conflict is coming and are bugging out.....
One can only wonder what pressure is applied to the refiners to allow this to come about. Royal Dutch Shell is as big and global as they come and is compliant. The others have followed the big dog’s lead.
...calling on Tehran to review its controversial nuclear program. The announcement of the suspension by Petronas came after Najib held talks with US President Barack Obama, who called for the world to move "boldly and quickly" on new Iran sanctions on the sidelines of a 47-nation nuclear security summit this week... predominantly-Muslim Malaysia's leader Najib... did not say when Petronas stopped supplying gasoline to Iran but some reports said it was done in the middle of March.IOW, it had nothing to do with the so-called nuclear summit.
My guess is that Iranians haven’t been making payments for a while, i.e. they’re about to run out of hard currency, whether you define that as yuan, yen, euros or dollars.
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