Japan still buying Iran oil despite bank woes

摘要

Tokyo—Japanese refiners were continuing to lift Iranian crude on May 18 despite the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ having suspended all transactions with Iranian banks in the wake of a New York district court order, sources said. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has until now handled most of Japan’s payments for Iranian oil, but the National Iranian Oil Company has now asked its Japanese customers to switch to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which currently deals with a small portion of the transactions, sources said.