Shell Stops Gasoline Sales to Iran

Dutch Shell has stopped gasoline sales to Iran, oil traders said on Wednesday, the latest addition to a growing list of firms that have halted supplies under threat of future U.S. sanctions. The Anglo-Dutch oil firm will join the likes of BP, Reliance Industries, and independent Swiss trader Glencore, among suppliers that have either stopped fuel sales to Iran or have made a decision not to enter into new trading agreements with the world's fifth largest oil exporter. "Shell has stopped selling gasoline to Iran, we have not seen them there for a while now," a gasoline trader said. A Shell spokesman said: "Shell currently does not supply gasoline to Iran." Vitol, one of the world's largest independent oil traders, said earlier this week it had decided to stop participating in new tenders to supply Iran with gasoline at the start of the year.

But the Swiss-based firm said it was completing existing spot supply deals that were made before the start of the year. The Financial Times reported on Monday that Trafigura had also stopped supplying gasoline to Iran. U.S. politicians are working on legislation to penalise fuel suppliers to Iran in an effort to pressure Tehran to stop uranium enrichment. The west says the Islamic Republic is using its atomic programme to develop nuclear weapons, while Iran insists that it is for nuclear electricity. "It is getting more difficult for suppliers, who are only stopping this because it is politically sensitive," a trading source familiar with Iranian fuel imports said.- Reuters