TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (MNA) Irans oil minister has said new directives for oil swap in the Caspian Sea with other countries has been issued.Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Monday that all oil companies would swap crude oil according to new conditions set by the Oil Ministry. He added however that definitely, we will have some restrictions on resuming the oil trade via Iran. The oil swap will protect national interests, he said.
Islamic Republic of Iran has been swapping crude oil for past 13 years with Caspian Sea former Soviet republics, which supplied 254 million barrels of crude via Iran and got a sum of $880m in transit premiums.
Mahmoud Astaneh, the member of NICO Oil Co. board of directors told Mehr News that Iran had negotiated oil swap with 4 or 5 international companies. A preliminary talk has been held with Swiss-based Vitol Group, which the company welcomed, announcing willingness for oil swap, he added.
Astaneh, who is also adviser to Zanganeh, said that domestic private sector and foreign companies generally sought guarantees from NIOC for resuming oil swap; as they believed unilateral discontinuation of agreement would incur financial damage to companies.
Astaneh also said that the ministry would provide incentive packages for eligible foreign and domestic companies according to their agreements with the ministry.
In response to a question by Mehr News about a visit to Tehran by Kuwaiti Emir and gas export talks with the country, Zanganeh told that Iran had made proposals to Kuwait to start gas exports. He added that Kuwait had not provided an official response to the proposals.
About talks on development of shared gas field Arash in the Persian Gulf, Zanganeh said that they had not discussed the Arash gas field with Kuwait.
By Mehr News Agency
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