Drought forces Iran to halt fuel oil exports

TEHRAN: Iran has temporarily halted exports of fuel oil because of domestic needs during a severe drought, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Iran is a regular exporter of fuel oil to Asia. But industry sources said on Saturday it will halt exports of the heavy fuel from August as it builds domestic stockpiles ahead of winter, and due to a heavy maintenance schedule in the fourth-quarter.


However, Ali-Asghar Arshid, international affairs director at the National Iranian Oil Company, said the export halt was due to a drought which has hit hydro-generated power and forced Iran to introduce daily power outages.