Foreign companies stepping away from Iran

REUTERS - Iran's day-to-day business is being affected by tighter international, U.S. and European Union sanctions imposed in response to Western fears the country's nuclear activities are aimed at developing bombs. Tehran says it has no such aim.

Following are details on firms that have been moving away from Iran in the last six months and on others still dealing with the country:

MOVING AWAY FROM IRAN:

* The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) further curbed transactions with Iran on Dec. 27, saying all current account transactions including trade deals with the Islamic Republic should be settled outside the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).

Reuters reported last week that the RBI would not facilitate payments for Iranian crude imports.

* Britain's North Sea Rhum gas field, in which the Iranian Oil Co Ltd has 50 percent, is shutting down due to sanctions on Iran, operator BP said last month.

* United Arab Emirates-based oil and gas explorer Dragon Oil's did not renewed an oil swap agreement with Iran which expired in July 2010.

* France's Total halted trade in oil products with Iran in compliance with a European embargo.

* Royal Dutch Shell was not renewing contracts to supply Iran Air with fuel, an industry source said in July.

* Italy's ENI said it would exit Iran when existing deals expire.

* ThyssenKrupp, Germany's biggest steelmaker, said on Sept. 23 it would not enter into new contracts with Iran and would terminate existing contracts.

* Turkish refiner Tupras told the U.S. State Department in August it had cancelled contracts to supply Iran with gasoline.

* BP confirmed in July it had stopped supplying jet fuel to Iran Air at Germany's Hamburg airport.

* Lloyd's of London said on July 9 it would not insure or reinsure petroleum shipments into Iran.

* South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction cancelled a $1.2 billion gas project in Iran on July 1.

* Spain's Repsol said on June 28 it had pulled out of a contract with Royal Dutch Shell to develop part of the South Pars gas field in Iran.

* Malaysia's Petronas stopped supplying gasoline to Iran, a company spokesman said on April 15.

STILL DEALING WITH IRAN:

* Iran can keep its stake in a uranium mine in Namibia owned by Rio Tinto, despite new U.N. sanctions restricting such investments, the firm said on Oct. 29.

* The U.S. Government Accountability Office in September identified 16 companies as having sold refined petroleum products to Iran during the period between Jan. 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Five companies that were continuing sales include Emirates National Oil Co, Hin Leong Trading of Singapore, ChinaOil, Unipec and Zhuhai Zhenrong of China.

* Russia built Iran's first nuclear power station near the Gulf port city of Bushehr. Iran began loading fuel into the plant on Aug. 21.

* Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on June 10 a $7.6 billion project for the export of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan would be unaffected by U.N. sanctions.