South Africa Looks to Nigeria to Replace Iranian Crude

In an effort to keep imports of crude flowing and still comply with US sanctions on Iran, the government of South Africa is looking at Nigeria to source more crude. About 25% of South Africa’s crude imports come from Iran.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told reporters during a briefing with Nigerian VP Namadi Sambo, "We would guarantee going forward, to our Nigerian brothers, demand for their liquid fuels because we don't want to source our fuel in areas that are likely to be unstable."

"We are quite confident that Nigeria will become one of South Africa's trusted suppliers of liquid fuel," Motlanthe added.

South Africatook 615,834 tons of Nigerian crude in March, over a fourfold increase for the same period in 2011.

The sanctions against Iran hurt South Africa most in the refining process as some of the country’s refineries are designed to treat only Iranian-type crude.