Iran Cuts Greece Oil, UK Gas Hits $9.00 Per Gallon

Gas prices in the U.K. skyrocket to $9.00 a gallon as Iran cuts oil shipments to Greece in response to western sanctions

As oil prices skyrocket ahead of Memorial day,  in the face of what now appears to be an inevitable war with Iran by the end of the year, Iran has cut oil shipments to Greece after following similar moves last week to cut oil to France and the UK.
Despite repeated reassurances by western politicians and media outlets that Iran acting to cut oil supplies in the face of western sanctions would not affect oil prices, global oil prices refuse to following that scripted narrative
Gas prices in the U.S. spiked toward all time highs following last weeks cuts from Iran with Los Angeles becoming the first city to break the $5.00 a gallon mark with WTI Crude closing on the 24th at $109.77 per barrel and Brent spot prices at $126.65.
That represents an upward move of nearly 15% surge NY crude oil prices in just a short three weeks  since its intraday low of $95.81 on February 2nd.

NY Crude spikes 15 percent in last 3 weeks

Those spikes in prices come despite the fact that U.S. and global demand for oil is very weak and oil inventories are high.
Experts on media outlets across the U.S. continue to reinforce the notion that the spike in energy prices are not due to underlying fundamentals and instead deflect the blame on the escalating situation in Iran while warning that U.S. gas prices will skyrocket to over $5.00 a gallon nationwide by the summer.
In Europe, the situation is far worse as U.K. gas prices surged to 150p per liter — approximately $9.00 a gallon — on news that Iran cut oil shipments to Greece.
Press TV reveals that the announcement to cut shipments Greece follow the refusal of Greece officials to sign a long-term contract stating they will not go along with EU sanctions against Iran.
Iranian officials let the world know oil shipments are being cut to Greece by sending a Greek tanker home empty after arriving in Iran to refuel on oil.

Iran refuses to deliver 500k-barrel oil shipment to Greece

Iran has refused to deliver a 500,000-barrel shipment of oil to Greece in response to EU oil sanctions imposed against the country.

Iran refuses to deliver 500k-barrel oil shipment to Greece

According to a report by Fars News Agency on Sunday, oil tankers that had come to transfer 500,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil to Hellenic refining complex in Greece were forced to return empty-handed after the Islamic Republic refused to deliver the shipment.
European Union foreign ministers agreed on January 23 to ban oil imports from Iran and to freeze the assets of the Iranian Central Bank across the EU. The sanctions will become fully effective on July 1, 2012, to give EU member states enough time to adjust to the new conditions and find alternative crude oil supplies.
The EU decision followed the imposition of similar sanctions by Washington on Iranian energy and financial sectors on New Year’s Eve which seek to punish other countries for buying Iran oil or dealing with the its central bank.
The Senate Banking Committee on February 2 adopted a package of tougher new sanctions targeting Iran’s national oil and tanker firms, authorizing the US government to impose a ban on foreign companies that buy oil from the National Iranian oil Company (NIOC) or have oil shipped by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).
On February 16, Iran stopped oil exports to British and French firms in line with the decision to end crude exports to six European states in response to sanctions imposed on the country’s energy sector.
The announcement caused a major spike in oil prices pushing the price of crude to over 122 dollars a barrel.
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Iran announced on February 21 that it will only continue exporting oil to the European Union if the member states give a guarantee to pay the price and sign medium- and long-term oil purchase contracts.
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Source:Press TV

Press TV also reports on the skyrocketing gasoline prices in Great Britain.

Soaring petrol prices stalk the British people

Soaring petrol prices stalk the British people

The price of petrol in Britain is to rise to an all-time high of 150p a litre [$9.00 a gallon] while the continuous rise in the price of oil exacerbates the soaring hikes in pump prices across the UK.

The British Chancellor George Osborne is to approve a crippling fuel duty hike over the next five months driving the price of petrol to over 150p a litre, reported the Sun on Sunday 26 February.
The news comes as the price of Brent crude oil is nearing $126 following Iran’s decision to cut oil supplies to British and French companies.
After Iran imposed an oil embargo on Britain, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, denied that Iran’s decision would leave any “impact on Britain’s energy security.”
The British Foreign Secretary’s denial was against a general “rule of thumb,” as described by a spokesman for AA, which provides British motorists with advice.
“The rule of thumb used to be that a $2 rise in the price of a barrel of oil added 1p a liter to pump prices,” said the spokesman.
However, this is just one side of the coin. Last year, the UK’s imports of crude went beyond its domestic crude production for the first time in 33 years.
With Britain’s crude oil imports of over one million barrels a day and predictions made by the world’s largest oil trader, Vitol, that the price of oil could rise to over $150 per barrel, Hague’s denial could not hold for long.
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Source: Press TV