Japanese oil refiners have temporarily halted Iranian oil loadings ahead of U.S. sanctions and are buying alternatives as it remains unclear whether Japan will receive an exemption, the head of the country’s refinery association said on Thursday. The United States has demanded that nations cut all their Iranian oil imports when sanctions on the country’s petroleum sector over Tehran’s nuclear program are re-imposed on Nov. 4. “It is my view that each firm is taking the same stance and temporarily suspending (the loading) and watching the situation carefully,” Takashi Tsukioka, the President of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ), said when asked if Japanese refiners plan to halt Iranian loadings from October. Tsukioka, who also serves as chairman of refiner Idemitsu Kosan, however, did not comment on the details of each […]