COLOMBO
— Sri Lanka will purchase oil from Iraq after the United States imposed new
sanctions on Iran, the island's main supplier of crude oil, a report said on
Sunday citing a senior official.
The
US Senate unanimously approved new economic sanctions Friday aimed at further
crippling Iran's energy, shipping and port sectors, a year after Congress
passed tough restrictions against Tehran.
Sanctions
have made it difficult to procure oil from Iran, prompting Colombo to turn to
Baghdad for oil purchases, the local Sunday Times reported.
"Oil
in northern Iraq is similar to Iranian crude and could be refined
(domestically), thereby reducing costs on the import of refined products,"
foreign ministry secretary Karunatillaka Amunugama told the paper.
He
said the authorities were working out the details. Sri Lanka's petroleum
authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Sri
Lanka has relied on Iran for 92 percent of its crude oil requirements.
Last
week, Sri Lanka announced that it will set aside two billion rupees ($15.38
million) owed to Iran for oil imports and will use the money to finance an
irrigation scheme on the island which is funded by Tehran.
Iran
had pledged some $450 million for the project in 2008 but implementation has
been slack due to a delay in transferring funds from Tehran due to the
sanctions.
The
US said it introduced the latest sanctions out of concern that Iran was
pressing ahead with its nuclear weapons drive despite earlier sanctions that
had been hailed as the toughest-ever against the Islamic republic.
Tehran
insists its nuclear programme is only for civilian use and refuses to abandon
its uranium enrichment activities.
Copyright
© 2012 AFP
