Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend / Iran's largest supplier of gasoline, Switzerland-based Vitol, has decided to end its long-running contract to provide the country with the fuel from next year, Reuters reports.
Vitol decided to terminate the contract because of losses of more than $70 million in 2007 from the existing contract, according to sources.
A top-ranking Iranian oil ministry official told Reuters, "Vitol is still one of our suppliers, although they are not supplying as much as before due to rationing." Vitol currently supplies Iran with about 60% of its gasoline imports.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest crude oil exporter, but its refineries have struggled to fully meet domestic demand for gasoline in light of Western sanctions imposed to discourage its nuclear program. The introduction of gasoline rationing in June helped Iran cut its imports of the fuel by about 60%, to 88,000 b/d.
Reuters said it was unclear where Iran would turn to replace supplies from Vitol. India, the Netherlands, France and the United Arab Emirates are traditionally Iran's primary suppliers.