Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Hellenic Petroleum, Greece's biggest oil refiner, will buy 60,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran per day, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the Iranian deputy oil minister for international affairs, said.
During the trip of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Tehran early in February, it was agreed that Hellenic Petroleum would buy 60,000 barrels of crude from Iran every day, Zamaninia said, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported Feb. 20.
He further said the figure can increase to 150,000 barrels a day.
The deputy oil minister added that the Greek company is ready to buy oil from Iran once the banking problems are solved.
Zamaninia also spoke about the company's debts to Iran, saying the Islamic Republic is pursuing the previously made agreements for the Hellenic Petroleum to pay back its debts.
The company is estimated to have a debt of 500 to 600 million euros to National Iranian Oil Company for the oil purchased before the nuclear-related sanctions were imposed on Iran in 2011.
Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country's annual crude oil imports, before the sanctions.
