Japan's Cosmo Oil Co has renewed its annual oil purchase deal with Iran and cut the volume to comply with US sanctions against the Islamic nation, trade sources said on Friday. A company spokesman declined to comment. Cosmo's new contractual volume from April onwards remained unclear. The company had already lowered its Iran crude imports to a little below 30,000 bpd from about 40,000 bpd since January, and was set to cut further from April, the sources said.
Japan's top buyer of Iranian crude, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, has already renewed its deal, industry sources have said. The contract renewal came after Iran agreed to include a clause in contract terms that released Japanese buyers from any penalty if international sanctions prevent them from taking delivery of Iranian oil, sources said.
Japan will slash its crude purchases from Iran by almost 80 percent in April compared to the first two months of the year as buyers comply with Western sanctions, trade sources told Reuters this week. The cuts, amounting to 250,000 barrels per day, are the steepest yet by the four Asian nations who buy most of Iran's 2.2 million bpd of exports, as tightening sanctions make it tough to pay, ship and insure the oil.
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