DUBAI: Dubai’s government-run oil company says it has started importing supplies from Qatar and is seeking other sources in apparent moves to replace Iranian crude lost because of international sanctions.
Sunday’s statement from the Emirates National Oil Co. said it could seek to expand imports from the Middle East and Asia to help meet rising demand in the city-state, which has little of its own oil unlike neighboring Abu Dhabi.
The statement did not mention Iran, but Dubai was a major buyer of Iranian condensate – light oil ready for refineries – and faced U.S. pressure to stop the flow.
Dubai was a major hub for Iranian trade, but commerce has been sharply reduced by Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.