Austrian OMV seen taking Syrian crude cargo-source

Austrian oil and gas company OMV is expected to take a cargo of Syrian Souedie crude, which it purchased on the spot market last month, an industry source said on Tuesday.

The European Union, the biggest buyer of Syrian crude oil, banned imports of the country’s oil on Saturday to put economic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, while allowing fuel sales to Syria to continue.

 However, Syrian crude under existing contracts can be still imported to the EU until Nov. 15. A spokesman with OMV said: “Our business relationships concern the acquisition of Syrian crude oil on the international market. We do this on the basis of international and European law and in accordance with our code of conduct.” “Should there be any change to international or European legal provisions, we will of

 course comply with them and stop acquiring oil purchased from Syria,” he said. The spokesman added that OMV processed 7.74 million tons of crude oil at its Schwechat Refinery in Germany in 2010 and Syrian oil account for 7 percent of the total.