Iran renews contracts with traditional partners
By Sara Rajabova
Iran has been in talks with its traditional partners on exporting more energy, while foreign companies have voiced readiness to engage in trade with the country following the removal of sanctions.
Mohsen Qamsari, the director of International Affairs of Iran's Oil Ministry has said the ministry has signed a new contract with China on exporting gas condensates to the East Asian country.
He added that Iran is engaged in talks with Asian and European customers, which used to buy oil and gas from Iran before a series of sanctions limited trade with Iran, Press TV reported.
In-mid April, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran’s petroleum minister visited China where he held top level talks with Chinese officials over the expansion of mutual cooperation in the area of oil and gas industries.
Following his visit, a senior Iranian energy official announced that China has financed 20 billion euros worth of projects in Iran’s oil industry adding it is also considering to triple funding.
China is Iran’s biggest crude oil client, with the proceeds being deposited in an account within Chinese banks.
Following recent developments, Qamsari said if a comprehensive nuclear deal is struck and international sanctions are removed, Iran will have the chance to resume its place in international oil markets.
Qamsari also pointed to the prospects of changing the pricing formula for oil trade with India. He stated that changing the formula would be the province of the Central Bank of Iran.
The Islamic Republic holds the world's fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves. Iran’s total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more than 560 billion barrels, with about 140 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Heavy and extra-heavy varieties of crude oil account for roughly 70-100 billion barrels of the total reserves.
Iran and the group P5+1 are negotiating a comprehensive agreement on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. To be reached by July 1, a prospective agreement would remove international sanctions on Iran.
The U.S. and EU imposed sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors at the beginning of 2012 due to claims of potential deviations toward non-civilian purposes in Iran's nuclear energy program. Iran has repeatedly denied Western allegations against its nuclear energy program.
The sanctions are aimed to prevent other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. At the end of 2012, EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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