Taiwan's Iranian Oil Imports Will Fall to 6m Barrels in 2018

Taiwan's Iranian crude oil imports would be capped at 5.99 million barrels in 2018, down 40% from the 9.95 million barrels in 2017 due to the snapback of US sanctions.
Taiwan received 1.99 million barrels, or 66,381 bpd of Iranian crude oil in September -- its third cargo so far this year, data released by the bureau of energy under the ministry of economic affairs late Thursday showed.
This is likely to be the final cargo from Iran to Taiwan in 2018, S&P Global Platts reported.
In contrast, five very large crude carriers of Iranian oil were imported last year, totaling 9.95 million barrels, data from the bureau showed.
No Iranian crude cargo would be delivered to Taiwan in November as international buyers of Iranian oil had until November 4 to wind down contracts before the US re-imposed sanctions on the oil, shipping and insurance sectors.
The sanctions went back into effect on November 5, although top buyers of Iranian crude, including Taiwan, were given temporary waivers until May, when they will be expected to cut their purchases significantly.
Given the temporary waiver came into effect earlier this month, the earliest cargoes Taiwanese refiners would be able to buy would be January 2019 loading barrels from Iran that would be delivered to Taiwan in February, based on the trading cycle for Iranian crude oil and voyage time.
This implies no more Iranian cargoes will land in Taiwan for the rest of 2018.
The US has given temporary waivers to China, India and Turkey -- Iran's top buyers -- as well as Japan, South Korea, Italy, Greece and Taiwan. However, the US says it is maintaining its goal of eventually “reducing Iranian crude exports to zero.”