Financial Tribune - Standard parallel salaf contracts worth 2.5 trillion rials ($20 million) will be offered on the Iran Energy Exchange on Tuesday to finance Azar Oilfield projects.

Securities mature in one year and can be traded in put and call option contracts. The interest rate for put option is 18.5% and for call option 19%. Interest will be paid on maturity date.

A call option gives the holder the right to buy a stock and a put option gives the holder the right to sell a stock.

The contracts are backed by light crude oil produced from the oilfield, the Securities and Exchange News Agency reported.

Standard parallel salaf is an Islamic contract similar to futures, with the difference being that the contract�s total price must be paid in advance.

Salaf securities will be offered on the derivatives market of the energy bourse. The move is part of the fiscal budget (March 2019-20) which allows the government to issue such instruments up to $3 billion (in rials and foreign currency) to finance oil projects.

Earnings from bonds will be used to repay the principal amount plus interest of matured bonds, reimburse liabilities to banks and pay contractors.

IRENEX is a commodity exchange in Iran in which physical energy carriers (oil, gas, electricity) and commodity based securities are exchanged.