Iran is seeking to store at least 2 million barrels of crude oil for at least six months in Southeast Asia but is struggling to find hosts due to international sanctions, industry sources familiar with the storage negotiations said on Thursday. The world's fifth-largest oil exporter, under Western pressure to cease its nuclear programme, has been talking to commercial storage operators in Singapore over the past month, sources said.
National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) met with Singapore authorities last month to discuss the possibility of taking space at the Jurong Rock Caverns, a 9.5 million-barrel underground oil storage facility that is due to start operations in 2013, said government agency JTC Corporation, the project¡¯s developer.
"We have been meeting many industry players for the Jurong Rock Caverns recently, and (the Iranians) were one of them," a JTC Corporation spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Iran, like other Middle East producers, has been battling hard to hold onto its market share in Asia as it faces increasing competition from alternative supply sources such as Russia's ESPO Blend crude.
International sanctions have made financing trade with Iran more difficult, so its crude sales in Asia have suffered more than some of its Middle Eastern rivals.
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