LONDON: Turkey's imports of Iranian crude oil were unchanged in June at just over 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), in line with the previous nine months, data from a shipping source and Reuters AIS Live ship tracking showed.
Two tankers delivered 150,000 tonnes and 144,000 tonnes, respectively, to the Tutunciftlik import terminal.
Some 158,000 tonnes of Iranian crude were discharged at Aliaga, the country's other import terminal.
Turkey's imports are down from its 2011 average of around 185,000 bpd, prior to the imposition of western sanctions against Iran.
Those are aimed at blocking funding for an Iranian nuclear programme which the United States and the EU suspect is for making weapons.
Tehran denies this.
The United States has granted Turkey several waivers to import reduced volumes of Iranian oil.
"Currently we are buying 105,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude," Tupras General Manager Yavuz Erkut said last month.
Tupras is Turkey's sole refining company and aims to buy about 1 million tonnes of Libyan crude this year.
Crude from Saudi Arabia and Iraq is expected to cover the shortfall created by the lower imports from Iran as they did in 2012, when they sent 2.8 million and 3.8 million tonnes, respectively. (Reuters)
