Significant oil purchase reductions have excluded two Asian nations from U.S. sanction.
Despite being the biggest importer of Iranian crude last year, China has “significantly reduced” oil purchases from the troubled country, earning them an exemption from U.S. trade sanctions. The U.S. has granted a 180-day exemption period to the developing nation, who have pledged to make further cuts in the near future.
China's significant reductions in Iranian imports were motivated by economic factors as much as political ones, however, after a pricing dispute between the two nations earlier this year. According to the foreign ministry in Beijing, China will continue to make some “completely justified and legitimate” purchases to meet its increasing economic development needs.
While Singapore did not purchase any Iranian oil in 2011, it imported more than two million metric tons of crude, condensate and fuel oil in the first five months of the year. Singapore's foreign ministry has since released an email saying the trading nation “welcomes the U.S. decision” and that as of May, no more Iranian crude was imported.
Both the EU and the U.S. have trade embargos on Iran, whose economy is heavily reliant on oil exports. US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, believes the new sanctions will cost Iran almost $8 billion in lost revenue each quarter, as crude exports will fall from 2.5 million barrels-per-day to just 1.5 million barrels-per-day.