Saras

"May stop purchases of Iranian oil because of the difficulty of findings banks to finance the trade." Benoit Faucon and Sarah McFarlane, "King Dollar Tightens Noose on Iranian Economy," The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2018.

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“We cannot defy the United States,” said a senior source at Italy’s Saras, which operates the 300,000-barrels-per-day (bpd) Sarroch refinery in Sardinia. Saras is determining how best to halt its purchasing of Iranian oil within the permitted 180 days, the source said, adding: “It is not clear yet what the U.S. administration can do but in practice we can get into trouble.” (6/6/2018).

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"Italian refiner Saras is worried about the market not having access to Iranian crude oil in light of new possible U.S. sanctions against Tehran. “I am worried about the overall scenario,” Saras CEO Dario Scaffardi said on a conference call. He said Iran was one of Saras’s main crude suppliers, though not the only one, adding for the time being nothing had changed." (5/14/2018)

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Italian oil refiner Saras (SRS.MI) has paid 160 million euros ($177 million) of the debt it owes Iran for crude oil bought before sanctions were imposed and its chief financial officer said the total debt to Tehran will be cleared next year. Analysts have estimated the company's Iranian debt at about 350 million euros and the company said it paid 50 million euros in the second quarter and 110 million euros in the third. "A further 100 million euros will be paid by year-end," CFO Franco Balsamo told analysts in a conference call on Monday's third-quarter results. "The rest will be paid in 2017." (Reuters, "Italy's Saras says it will clear Iranian oil debt in 2017," 11/8/2016).

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"Iran continues its quest for new crude buyers, especially in Europe, but its loyal customer base will continue to hinge on countries like India and China, whose demand for Iranian crude has observed a steady rise this year. Iran has found interest for its crude in some unusual places in the past few months as it continues it diversify its list of buyers. Earlier this month it agreed to sell 1 million barrels of crude oil to Hungary via Croatia as it seeks to widen its post-sanctions customer base, which now includes cargoes sold to oil major BP, France's Total, Greece's Hellenic Petroleum, Spain's Repsol and Cepsa, Russia's Lukoil, Poland's Grupa Lotos, Portugal's Petrogal and Italy's Saras and Iplom. Iran said it has held talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina this week as it hopes to expand its list of crude oil export destinations. However, its shipments to Asia remain the pillar of its export market." (Platts, "Analysis: Iran eyes new crude oil buyers, Asia remains linchpin," 11/1/2016).

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A report from June 2016 noted, "Saras SpA and Iplom SpA, have reportedly signed long term contracts with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to purchase crude oil from Iran. As of this week, in a contact with Saras SpA, Iran will export 60,000 to 65,000 barrels of oil per day to the company's refineries for one year." (Press TV, “Italians seal oil purchase deals with Iran,” 6/23/2016). 

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Dario Scaffardi, Saras’s Managing Director, discussed Saras’s engagement in the Iranian market, noting some banking difficulties. On such difficulties, he said, “I hope these will be resolved soon and we can start in a few months, maybe even weeks.”  (Reuters, “Saras looking to resume Iran crude trade in coming months,” 4/22/2016). 

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In April 2016, “Italy’s two largest oil and gas companies, Eni and Saras, seek to buy 170,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Iran. Eni and Saras have submitted their requests to the Iranian oil ministry for the purchase of 100,000 bpd and 70,000 bpd respectively.” (Tasnim News Agency, “Italian Firms Eye Importing 170,000 bpd of Crude from Iran,” 4/11/2016).

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"Other oil companies in the Mediterranean including Spain's Cepsa and three other Italian oil firms, ERG, Iplom and Saras have planned to take their last cargoes from Iran in June, other market sources said." (Reuters, "Eni suspends Iran's debt payments in oil," 5/31/2012)

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Saras imported 20,000 barrels of Iranian crude per day in both March and April of 2012. (Reuters, "Europe's Buyers Trim Iranian Oil Imports in April," 4/18/12)

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"Trading sources told Reuters that Italy's Saras, ERG and Iplom, Greece's Hellenic as well as Spain's Repsol have either extended or have not scrapped existing term supply contacts with Iran for 2012... Italian refiner Saras said it received about 10 percent of its feedstock from the Islamic Republic in 2011. 'A ban on Iran exports would cause a shortage in heavy crude oils, putting further pressure on already high oil prices, and compressing margins for all refiners,' said Massimo Vacca, Saras' head of investor relations." (Reuters, "EU firms renew Iran oil deals to win sanction reprieve," 1/12/12)

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"Italian oil refiner Saras SpA (SRS.MI), traditionally a big buyer of Libyan crude oil, said in a Reuters interview on Friday that it was looking at replacing oil shipments from Libya and had already slightly increased sour crude supplies from Iran." (Reuters, "Iran sells more oil as Libyan exports dwindle," 2/25/11)

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"Oil trade with Iran remains more difficult following tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic, industry sources said, despite a message from the European Union that such operations are legal. Saras, an Italian oil refiner, said last week that transactions with Iran have become more challenging as banks are reluctant to get involved. Other European oil companies have made similar remarks privately. 'The banking side is the tough part. It is very tough. It has to be banks that haven't got any kind of interests in the United States,' said an Iranian crude oil customer in Europe. Iran is a major oil exporter and its production is equal to about 4.2 percent of daily world demand. The amount of Iranian crude sold to countries that are members of the International Energy Agency declined by 22 percent in August." (Reuters, "Credit hurdles remain hindrance to Iran oil trade," 11/18/10)

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"Another trader said the market was aware that Italian firms Agip (ENI.MI) and Saras (SRS.MI) were importing Iranian crude with the financing help from Italian banks. Agip and Saras were not immediately available for comments." (Reuters, "Shell, Italy maintain Iran oil trade," 9/28/10)