Russian oil giant LUKoil intends to continue refining Iranian oil at the Italian island of Sicily, the company's president said.





PERM (Sputnik)�� Russian oil giant LUKoil plans to�resume refining of�Iranian oil at�the company's ISAB refinery located at�the Italian island of�Sicily to�replace Russian Urals brand oil, President of�LUKoil Vagit Alekperov said Thursday.
"Today, we want to�return it [Iran's oil] there [to the ISAB], because at�the moment Urals is more expensive than�Iranian oil. Today, we are placing it at�other refineries very effectively," Alekperov told reporters.


He added that oil from�Iran was the best option for�the ISAB, because it was designed for�70 percent of�heavy oil from�Iran and 30 percent of�light oil from�Libya.

Iran began stepping up�international trade and investment cooperation after�reaching a historic deal on�its nuclear program to�ensure its peaceful nature in�exchange for�the suspension of�international anti-Iran sanctions, in�particular on�its oil sector, in�July 2015.

In April, Iran signed a deal with�European refineries that could allow for�the country to sell up�to 700,000 barrels of�oil per day to�Europe. The deal was set to�be implemented "within the next few months," according to�country's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

By Sputnik News