CAPE TOWN: Nigeria’s woes in the area of dwindling revenue from crude oil sales is expected to heighten in the next couple of days, as the South African Petroleum Industry Association, SAPIA, yesterday, stated that South Africa would likely stop importing crude oil from Nigeria following the lifting of the sanctions on Iran.
Executive Director of the SAPIA, Avhapfani Tshifularo, told journalists that the potential return of Iranian oil exports to South Africa threaten to displace barrels from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria that plugged the supply gap when sanctions were imposed on Iran, which is OPEC’s fifth biggest producer.
He said: “The re-emergence of Iranian crude oil provides options for those willing to buy from Iran. Iranian imports are likely to displace the Nigerian and Saudi Arabian crudes, since they seem to have filled the gap since South Africa stopped importing Iranian crude oil.” Furthermore, data compiled by SAPIA from refiners showed that South Africa stopped importing crude oil from Iran in 2013, following which its oil imports from Nigeria rose significantly, with Saudi Arabia emerging the highest exporter of crude to the country.
