What Happened: Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez has said his country received a 25 percent oil sanctions waiver from the United States, allowing it to continue importing 60,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil, Reuters reported Nov. 9.
Why It Matters: While the United States has not yet officially confirmed the number, it would be a significantly smaller percentage than previously announced sanctions waivers for South Korea, China and India — all of which will be allowed to continue importing 50 to 60 percent of previous import volumes. It could also be an indication that sanctions waivers for Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Japan could be lower than initially anticipated.
Background: Iran is Turkey’s biggest single supplier of crude oil at about 45 percent of its crude oil imports in 2017, or about 225,000 barrels per day. Since the United States announced that it was reintroducing sanctions on Iran in May 2018, Turkey’s refiner Tupras has reduced shipments from Iran to about 130,000 barrels per day, hoping to receive a waiver at that level.
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