SA to resume oil imports from Iran if sanctions lifted on Nuke deal

From Reuters

SA is looking forward to resuming trade with Iran, including oil imports, once sanctions are lifted following the nuclear deal, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Iran was once the biggest oil supplier to SA – mainly, but not solely while the Shah of Iran was the main supplier to Pretoria – which is Africa's second-biggest crude consumer, importing around 380,000 barrels per day (bpd) in total. "Of course if sanctions are lifted that's a win-win situation and SA will also benefit from that," Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in response to a question about resuming oil imports from Iran.

Nkoana-Mashabane said SA had never agreed with sanctions against Iran and that its oil refiners had suffered from a ban on crude exports from the Middle Eastern country.

SA bought around 68,000 bpd from Iran in May 2012, a month before it halted crude purchases as Western countries pressured Tehran over its nuclear programme. That was well down from peak purchases in 2011.