China cuts Iranian oil imports, says IEA - FT.com

China cuts Iranian oil imports, says IEA

By Guy Chazan and Javier Blas

China is buying about 50 per cent less Iranian oil than it did last year, as international sanctions strengthen its bargaining position with Iran’s national oil company, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

China is the single largest buyer of Iranian crude, and usually takes about a fifth of Iran’s exports – around 550,000 barrels a day. But the IEA, the energy watchdog of the industrialised countries, says China is now thought to be lifting around half of 2011 volumes, probably due to a dispute over prices, and has stepped up purchases of Saudi, Russian and Angolan crude.

via China cuts Iranian oil imports, says IEA – FT.com.

IS THIS A PRECURSOR TO AN EFFECTIVE REAL IRANIAN OIL EMBARGO?  THE ISRAELIS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ALLOW IRAN TO DEVELOP A NUCLEAR WEAPON AND IF THE EMBARGO FAILS WILL ATTACK BEFORE THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO KEEP FROM GETTING RESTRAINED BY AN OBAMA PRESIDENCY EMBOLDENED BY A TWO TERM WIN.