Turkey has since been granted a waiver from Washington allowing it to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil despite the sanctions. Oil arriving in Turkey from Iran is typically booked two or more weeks in advance because of the time it takes a shipment to cover the distance between the two countries by sea, Reuters reported.
A trading source said that Turkey's biggest oil importer, TÜPRAŞ has also had scheduled maintenance from mid-October to mid-November at its İzmit refinery, one of four of the company's refineries, a move that could have reduced its overall demand for crude oil during the period.
Turkey did not know in advance whether its request for a waiver would be granted, which may account for the decline in November purchases.
NATO member Turkey depends heavily upon imports to meet its energy needs and neighboring Iran has been one of its main sources of oil because of its proximity, the quality of its crude and favorable price differentials.
In the first five months of the year, Turkey's crude imports from Iran made up more than 50 percent of its total oil imports, the EMRA data showed. Last year, Turkey imported 25.8 million tons of crude oil, and Iran ranked first among Turkey's oil suppliers with 11.5 million tons. The country also imports oil via pipelines from Iraq and Azerbaijan. However, geographical proximity and stable transport routes facilitate oil trade between Ankara and Tehran.
