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| EU says Iran oil embargo bogged down |
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 European Union talks on an oil embargo on Iran are becoming bogged down over discussions on exemptions for existing supply contracts and the length of a planned phase-in period, according to four diplomats.Greece, Italy and Spain are trying to soften a UK push for a blanket ban, concerned that an oil-supply shock would further damage their economies already hit by the European debt crisis, the diplomats said, declining to be identified because no final agreement has been reached. Foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states are scheduled to decide at a Jan. 23 meeting in Brussels when to impose and how to phase in the embargo, the diplomats said. The EU said it brought forward the meeting from Jan. 30 to avoid a clash with a leaders’ summit the same day. The scenarios the EU is considering include imposing a ban on future Iranian crude imports that would leave existing contract shipments exempt until a later date, according to the officials. That would protect European countries that import the most Iranian oil, such as Italy and Greece, they said. Another option would be to exempt Greece, which blocked an EU consensus on an embargo in December, until it arranges alternative supplies, according to one official. Greece relied on Iran for 14 percent of its oil imports in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration. Eni exemption The bloc is also considering exempting Eni SpA, Italy’s largest oil company, from the ban, according to the officials. Italy gets 13 percent of its imported crude from Iran, which supplied Rome-based Eni to pay off its debts. The U.S. tightened sanctions on Iran on Dec. 31 and is pushing the EU to follow suit. EU sanctions on Iran already include an embargo on equipment for the oil and natural gas industries and a ban on investment in the sector. The bloc has also imposed restrictions on transfers of funds to and from Iran and vigilance over business with the country. (Source: Bloomberg)
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