Taiwan considers reducing crude imports from Iran
By JENNY W. HSU and FANNY LIU
Taiwan is considering cutting imports of crude oil from Iran in cooperation with US and European efforts to choke off Iran's oil revenue over the nation's nuclear program, a foreign affairs official said Thursday.
"Taiwan will carefully consider the US request. We are assessing measures and how to minimize any potential economic impact," said Lin Jinn-jong, a director-general of the Department of West Asian Affairs, without elaborating.
The US has held talks with several of its Asian partners - including Taiwan, Japan and South Korea - about the effort to cut off Iran's oil exports.
Iranian crude oil accounted for around 4% of the Taiwan's total imports of crude oil in 2011, down from 6.8% in 2010 and 7.8% in 2009, Bureau of Energy data showed.
State-run CPC Corp. said it hasn't been instructed by the government to reduce imports from Iran, which make up about 5% of its total crude-oil imports.
CPC vice president Chen Ming-hui said the company, which imports more than 50% of Taiwan's crude oil, could "easily" replace Iranian imports with crude oil from sources such as Saudi Arabia and Africa.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp. has agreed to abide by the government's decision as long as "the company does not breach [existing] contracts with its suppliers in Iran," President Tsao Mihn said.
Iranian crude oil accounted for around 2% of the crude oil Formosa Petrochemical used last year, the company said.
Dow Jones Newswires
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