Turkey's Iranian crude imports hit 2-1/2-yr low in July-data

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Turkey imported just over 48,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude in July, the lowest since December 2009, the data showed.

That was down sharply from June, when it imported 167,000 bpd, and a fraction of Turkey's 2011 average of 180,000 bpd.

Turkey's sole refiner, Tupras, has been forced to lift even less Iranian oil than it had itself promised to the West as EU measures have stopped European firms, which dominate the marine insurance sector, from offering cover on Iranian crude. The EU oil embargo took effect from July 1.

Turkey ultimately switched to using Iranian-owned tankers to pick up crude accumulating at the Egyptian port of Sidi Kerir, the end of the Sumed pipeline, an alternative route for crude oil coming from the Arab Gulf into the Mediterranean.

The United States granted Turkey a 180-day exception from sanctions from June 11 as a result of an initial 20 percent cut made by Tupras.

Western sanctions aim to stifle Tehran's finances to prevent it from developing an atomic bomb, while Tehran says its nuclear activities are peaceful.

Turkey's biggest crude provider in July was Russia with almost 110,000 bpd of oil imports, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Jason Neely)

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