Japan demands exemption from US' oil sanctions on Iran
Japanese energy supply should not be affected by US sanctions on Iran, said Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry on Tuesday at a news conference.
During the second round of talks in Washington over August 1-2, 'the Japanese side insisted on the basic principle that [the US sanctions] should not affect energy supply or have a negative impact on Japanese corporate activities,' Hiroshige Seko told the news conference in Tokyo on what Japan had told the US during talks in Washington last week.
Seko's comments came as Japan is seeking an early exemption from the US on its sanctions against Iran as among its highest priorities for the country's energy security as well as local refiners' need for Iranian oil, a top government official told S&P Global Platts on July 24.
Ryo Minami, the director-general of oil, gas, and mineral resources at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said in an interview that it was a firm principle on the part of the government to obtain an exemption, wrote S&P Global Platts.
He added that Japan was considering to continue importing Iranian crude and that the government would convey this position to the US and seek understanding for the Japanese position.
Minami also said Japan should be exempt from the US sanctions because of the country's reduction in Iranian oil imports in recent years.