Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Iran is in discussions with at least three buyers in Asia to sell them more crude if sanctions on the Middle Eastern country are lifted, according to four people with direct knowledge of the talks.

State-owned National Iranian Oil Co. is talking with the buyers and hasn’t yet specified how much additional crude it might offer them, said the people who asked not to be identified because the conversations are confidential. A spokeswoman for Iran’s oil ministry wasn’t able to comment immediately.

The U.S. and five other global powers are negotiating with Iran to end a decade-long dispute over its nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions that have cut its crude exports. Overseas crude shipments averaged 1.3 million barrels a day last year, or 1.2 million barrels a day below pre-sanction levels, according to the International Energy Agency.

U.S. and European Union sanctions restrict the amount of Iranian crude refineries can buy. EU fuel processors are forbidden from buying any Iranian oil, while U.S. restrictions allow for China, Japan, India, South Korea, Turkey and Taiwan to purchase limited amounts of the crude.

The U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Russia and China make up the P5+1 group holding the nuclear negotations with Iran. The U.S. and its allies are seeking to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. Iran, which said has said it needs to enrich uranium for its civilian nuclear reactor in Bushehr. The parties have set a deadline of the end of March to reach a political agreement outlining a deal and plan to reach a final accord by the end of June.