Turkey has struck a 1 million ton oil supply deal with Libya after reducing imports of Iranian crude under pressure from the United States and the international community, the Turkish energy minister said yesterday.
Turkey’s oil refiner Tüpraş agreed to the deal with Libya and has also started negotiations with Saudi Arabia for a long-term contract, Yıldız said.
The move comes after the United States said earlier that it would exempt seven emerging economies, including Turkey, from tough new sanctions after they cut oil supplies from Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added India, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan to the list of those exempt from the sanctions.
However, Reuters quoted a U.S. diplomat as saying that Turkey’s position did not stem from an exemption but was an exception. Tüpraş may pay 180 days more to the Iranian central bank over Turkey’s Halkbank, the diplomat said. The U.S. was observing whether Turkey would renew an oil contract with the Islamic republic by the end of August, the agency also quoted him as saying.
(Source: Hurriyet Daily News)
