It did not take long for Iran to respond to the EU’s decision to ban all oil imports from the country by July this year – see Plasteurope.com of 30.01.2012 – as numerous Iranian news sources report that the country’s oil minister has ordered a ban on foreign companies involved in Iran’s refinery sector. Possibly to avoid the image of a “tit-for-tat” escalating response, Rostam Qasemi based his decision to stop issuing licenses to foreign companies interested in developing Iran’s petrochemical projects on some companies’ failure to conform to their contractual obligations. However, many observers see the move as a direct retaliation to the EU’s earlier decision. Among the alleged defaulters, Iran’s Mehr news agency says, are Royal Dutch Shell (London / UK; www.shell.com) and UOP (Des Plaines, Illinois / USA; www.uop.com).

The move comes at a time when the Islamic Republic requires about USD 41 bn in investment in its oil industry to achieve the goals of its 20-year economic outlook plan, newspapers say, adding that only 25% of all the parts used by Iran’s oil industry are domestically produced.

Newspapers also quote close government sources as having said that the EU ban would affect merely 18% of Iran’s oil sales. As a result, the government source continued, the widely anticipated rise in global oil prices following the ban would in turn add to Iran’s revenues, making up for the cut delivered by the sanctions.