–John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own–
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – European countries appear to be edging toward imposing an EU-wide ban on imports of Iranian crude in a bid to cut Iran’s export revenues and step up the pressure over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions . If the EU goes ahead, it would mark an odd reversal of the 1970s oil weapon when Arab countries led by Libya and Saudi Arabia embargoed exports to the United States, the Netherlands and other countries. Only this time the weapon will be held by the European countries and pointed at themselves.
Giving clean energy an affordable makeover: John Kemp
–John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own–
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Political will to tackle climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions, never very strong, has all but disappeared across much of North America and Western Europe in the last twelve months. Climate concerns have fallen victim to the recession. Fears about jobs, growth and the cost of switching to clean energy have undermined support for climate policies across the advanced industrial economies.
Italy oil sector fears inevitable ban on Iran crude: LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Italian sanctions prohibiting imports of crude oil from Iran are inevitable and will come at a cost to the region’s oil companies, the director of Italy’s oil industry body said. “There is nothing we can do to prevent sanctions, given the political orientation of the government today,” Pietro de Simone, director of Italy’s Unione Petrolifera (UP), told Reuters on Thursday.
French slip on solo Iran oil ban puts spotlight on EU: PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters) – A slip by a French government official on Thursday, mistakenly suggesting Paris was about to unilaterally ban Iranian oil imports, has raised expectations that European Union countries could consider a boycott of the OPEC producer’s oil sales to step up the pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme. France’s foreign ministry first suggested and then back-tracked on the imposition of a unilateral ban on oil from Iran, making clear it would only act over Iran’s nuclear programme as part of an EU-wide plantners.
France can offset shortfall in Iranian oil imports: PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters) – France can easily compensate for a shortfall from an Iranian oil import ban, its oil petroleum industry body (UFIP) said on Thursday. France will stop importing Iranian oil at a national level as part of a proposal it made to its allies to consider ending purchases from the world’s fifth largest producer, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
