China’s Premier Wen Jiabao is to visit major oil producers including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar from Saturday to Thursday, an apparent move to secure alternative oil suppliers to Iran in case Beijing agrees with the U.S. to cut imports from Iran.

China has so far refused to join the U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports, saying Iran is a large oil supplier to China.

However, some observers say it will not be easy for Beijing to reject the U.S. request, considering that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Wednesday rushed to visit Wen in person to ask for cooperation.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba has also visited the Gulf region last week to ask the UAE and Qatar to supply Japan with more oil, as Japan may have to reduce oil imports from Iran due to tighter Western sanctions.

Japan is the third-largest importer of Iranian crude oil, after China and EU, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration. The volume of extra oil Japan had asked for was not disclosed.

Korea bought 244,000 barrels per day from the Middle East country in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In 2010, Iranian oil accounted for 8.3 percent of Korea’s oil imports with a total of 72.6 million barrels shipped into the country. In the first 11 months of 2011, the volume rose to about 83 million barrels or 9.7 percent of Korea’s overall oil imports.

Meanwhile, a U.S. delegation led by Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department’s special adviser on arms control, will arrive Seoul on Monday for a three-day visit for consultations with the Korean government on sanctions on Iran, the Foreign Ministry said.

“The U.S. delegation will explain the sanctions on Iran included in the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act and future course of action to the Korean government,” the ministry said.

“We will seek U.S. cooperation to minimize the act’s economic impact on Korean companies.”

By Kim Yoon-mi
(yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)