Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 23
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Russia and Kazakhstan have expressed readiness to resume crude oil swap with Iran, an Iranian official said.
All infrastructures of Iran's Neka oil terminal have been prepared for the resumption of crude oil swap, Pirouz Mousavi, the managing director of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC) said, Mehr news agency reported Nov. 23.
Referring to talks with Russia and Kazakhstan, he said that in the first phase surplus crude output of the two countries will be transferred to the Neka oil terminal, in southern Caspian Sea.
He further said that swap resumption will develop Iran's diplomatic ties with littoral Caspian states.
The imported crude oil from the Caspian states is to be refined at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries in northern Iran which will lead to saving costs of transferring oil from southern Iran to the mentioned refineries, Mousavi said.
The oil swap project reportedly saves Iran costs of carrying 500,000 barrels per day of oil from south to north of the country.
Tehran will deliver an equivalent amount of the imported oil to potential buyers in the Persian Gulf ports, he added.
Under oil swap agreements, which started in 1997 and were in place for over 12 years, Iran received the crude oil of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in its northern port of Neka on the Caspian coast and delivered an equal volume to the clients of the same countries in Persian Gulf. Tehran would receive a transit fee from Caspian states over this. The overall revenue obtained by Iran from 1997 to 2009 has been estimated at about $880 million.
