The country was a minor purchaser of Iranian crude last year, but has bought no Iranian oil since January 1.
Pilipinas Shell said it averaged just 16,000 barrels a day of Iranian crude last year, but has now stopped and has no plans to buy any more. “No, no more,” said Chairman Edgar Chua. “We have not been buying Iranian crude for some time because the crude mix of the refinery is now different.”
He didn’t say why it was now different.
Over at rival Petron Corp, President Eric Recto gave a similar explanation, saying the company’s refinery now required sweet and light crude.
He didn’t say how much Iranian oil Petron used to buy or why it changed its mix.
The Philippine purchases were small and won’t have an economic impact on Iran.