In this latest round of U.S. sanctions, Western companies probably will walk away unscathed, experts say. That's because they have either not injected a huge amount of capital into the energy sector there or have already pulled out of the country, Vatanka noted.
The congressional bills will affect the top suppliers of refined petroleum to Iran, including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France and Switzerland, a Washington source said.
The ultimate impact of the proposed law depends on its enforcement mechanisms, the source told OilPrice.com. As it stands, Obama can "literally preclude [certain Western] corporations from operating in the United States. So every British Petroleum gas station, for example, would be closed in the U.S."
In the end, it's doubtful the president would actually "bring the ax down on British Petroleum in the U.S. like that," conceded the source.
Right now, though, Congress seems to be pushing for radical steps that will shake up Iran once and for all.
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