SINGAPORE: Taiwan resumed Iranian crude imports from November after seven months as refiners sought to fulfill contractual commitments with the National Iranian Oil Co, refinery officials said on Thursday.
Taiwan was one of the countries granted 180-day waivers to financial sanctions by the United States for cutting their oil purchases from the Islamic Republic.
State-owned CPC Corp bought 2 million barrels of Iranian crude that was loaded in November, a company official said.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp's 2-million-barrel cargo will be lifted in December, company spokesman KY Lin said.
European Union sanctions had made it difficult for refiners to charter tankers so the cargoes are shipped by vessels owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co, they said.
"The term contract was finalised before sanctions started," Formosa's Lin said. "We lifted much less than required in the contract this year."
If the cargoes passed through Taiwan customs before year end, the country would have imported 8.9 million barrels of Iranian crude this year, down 19 percent from 11.04 million barrels in 2011, government data showed.
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