SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Iran will receive $4.2 billion from its oil sales to be transferred in instalments if it fulfils its commitments in a landmark nuclear deal struck between world powers and Tehran in Geneva.
Here is a look at where Iranian oil payments are held in the countries in Asia that are still importing crude from the OPEC producer:
COUNTRY: China
BANK: Kunlun Bank, owned by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC)
ESTIMATED AMOUNT: China struck an agreement with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in an early November meeting to start releasing the $22 billion oil payment blocked in an Iranian bank account in Beijing, the Fars News Agency reported. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that the Iranian Central Bank and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) each has two accounts at Kunlun, one yuan-denominated and one in euros.
COUNTRY: India
BANK: UCO Bank
ESTIMATED AMOUNT: About $5.3 billion held up by the sanctions. Of the total, about $1.8 billion is with the oil companies that have bought crude from Iran and the remainder is held with state-run UCO Bank.
In mid-October, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) had asked Indian refiners to pay in euros via Turkey's state-owned Halkbank
COUNTRY: South Korea
BANK: Woori Bank
ESTIMATED AMOUNT: Iran has about 5.9 trillion won in won deposits, a foreign exchange authority source said.
COUNTRY: Japan
BANK: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
ESTIMATED AMOUNT: The total amount held is unclear, but Japan imported about $4.7 billion worth of Iranian crude between February and September, according to data from the Finance Ministry.
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in Beijing, Choonsik Yoo and Meeyong Cho in Seoul, Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
