The imported crude is from Syria, which normally sells its crude in Europe. But the EU has now embargoed all purchases of Syrian crude in retaliation for the Syrian government’s repression of anti-government protesters.
The International Oil Daily last week quoted unnamed trading sources as saying one shipment of 586,400 barrels of Syrian crude was carried this month to Iran aboard a Greek tanker.
The sanctions, imposed early in September, ban companies in the EU’s 27 nations from buying or transporting Syrian crude. Greece is in the EU, so if one of its tankers carried the Syrian crude that would be a violation of the sanctions.
Before the anti-regime eruptions, Syria exported 120,000 barrels a day of crude, almost all of it going to European refineries.
The International Oil Daily said buyers from India, Russia and China were also lining up tankers to load up Syria crude.
It is assumed Iran would just mix that crude in with its own and ship it off to world markets.