SHANA -- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) firmly denied a story covered by Reuters on Chilean prosecutors alleging possible Iranian oil link to intoxications in ENAP refinery.

On December 17, Reuters reported that Chilean law enforcement officials were investigating the delivery of Iranian crude oil to the state energy company ENAP as a possible source of the noxious fumes that caused hundreds of people to seek medical treatment in in August.

NIOC denied any links between Iranian oil exports to Chile and the intoxications, saying Iranian oil “is exported to various destinations in Asia, Europe and South America and the history of the exports is clear and traceable.”

“Every year, inspectors from international standardization organizations monitor the flow, loading and export of Iranian oil and issue certificates which allow continuation of the exports.

“Iran's export terminals are equipped with the state-of-the-art laboratories and devices for checking and measuring the quality and amount of the oil and the quality of the export oil is always being examined at different times of the day.

“The process of loading is fully monitored by the two sides (the seller and the buyer), and experts from the parties, together with the expert of the leased tankers, carefully consider all the relevant issues in order to determine the amount and quality of the oil on the basis of the negotiations and agreements between the seller and the buyer, and, in case of any discrepancies, loading operation is not performed. It is also worth mentioning that Iran exports around 1 billion barrels of oil annually to different countries, and so far no case has ever been made by any countries like what has been claimed in Chile.

“Meanwhile, the Chilean refining company, ENAP, has also denied claims by the Chilean prosecutors’ office in a statement, underling the aforementioned cases. The Chilean prosecutors have not yet levelled any charges against Iran and the case is considering mere possibilities.

“Earlier, Chile's ENAP was condemned by Chilean prosecutors in August due to a gas leak at the time of discharge, and all the activities of the refinery were halted.

“Ever since the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, Reuters has released reports aimed at creating tensions in the world oil market against Iran.

“Earlier this week, Reuters released a story about Russia's Rosneft Company exiting Iran, claiming that the company had abandoned its contracts with Iran; this is while, according to the National Iranian Oil Company, no contract has been concluded between Iran and the Russian company.

“Reuters's focus is not limited to the Iranian oil issue; it also targets other economic and industrial infrastructures in the country.”