The East African nation had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in June to buy up to 80,000 barrels a day of Iranian crude, renewing a deal signed about three years earlier that didn’t result in any actual fuel shipments.
“We signed MOUs in 2009 and 2010 and nothing happened,” said Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Patrick Noyike. “We signed another one last month with Iran, but it has no legal substance and we can decide to do it or not,” he added just after news of the deal broke. Subsequently, he said they would not.
Iran has been frantically trying to find new markets because all its major buyers have either reduced their purchases or halted them altogether. The National Iranian Oil Co. claimed last week that it was signing up new customers. But it failed to name any.
Noyike later hinted at pressure from the United States and UK. “There is an embargo on Iranian oil. We don’t want to get involved in the intricacies of international inter-governmental issues,” he said, quickly adding that the MOU with Iran was “being canceled.”