Tehran, Iran, June 5
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad- Trend:
The director of the International Corridors Bureau affiliated with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development Amin Taraffo said talks are underway for the export of one million tons of Iranian crude oil to Uzbekistan through land and probably by rail.
“(During the minister’s recent visit to Uzbekistan), both sides decided to approve tariff rates for cargo transportation between the two countries,” he said, according to the official website of Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development on June 5.
The issue of establishing tariffs for transportation came after Iranian and Uzbek officials held talks over the prospect of exporting one million tons of crude oil from Iran to the Central Asian country.
Recently, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi paid an official visit to Tashkent in a bid to explore ways for enhanced cooperation between the two countries in various field, particularly land and air transportation.
Iran’s potential export of crude oil to Uzbekistan may reach three million tons in the future, Taraffo said, adding that the two sides are in talks to specify the tariff rates to facilitate further cooperation in the future.
Last year, a total of 480,000 tons of goods were transported between Iran and Uzbekistan via rail transit, from which 170,000 tons belonged to the volume of export and import trade between the two nations, Taraffo said.
Currently, 2,500 truck drivers commute between destinations in the two countries, he added, noting only 300 trucks are Uzbek and that the rest are Iranian.
Back in 2017, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said, “Uzbekistan’s oil production is limited. Therefore, it needs to import this strategic product”.
“Given that Uzbekistan has no access to sea, exports to the country need to be carried out through land and probably by rail,” he added after meeting the visiting Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov.
Iran’s current oil export capacity stands at around 2.7 million barrels per day most of which is shipped to Asia, a quarter to Europe and the rest to certain minor markets.
