Tehran, Iran, June 6
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
CEO of Iran's Oil Terminals Company Piruz Mousavi said the company is conducting preparatory measures to boost the maritime operation capabilities at Kharg Island in order to enhance the export of oil.
The measures come in line with Iran's efforts to prepare for the post-sanctions era to boost its oil export. Iran's oil export experienced a sharp decline under international sanctions in 2011.
Mousavi said a new slop tank is being installed at the Kharg terminal in order to meet security and environmental protection requirements for boosting oil export via the terminal, Mehr news agency reported June 6.
Administered by the adjacent coastal Bushehr Province, Kharg Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranian territorial sea claims into the Gulf oil fields.
Mousavi added that the submarine oil pipelines at the terminal are also being repaired as another move to prepare for an export boost.
He said that if economic sanctions on Iran are lifted, over 1,000 tankers are predicted to dock at Iran's oil terminals every year.
Last Iranian fiscal year, which ended March 20, some 800 tankers loaded oil at Iranian terminals.
The sanctions on Iran are to be removed through an agreement with the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) which is set to be reached by June 30.
Iran is keen to recover market share lost under the U.S. and European Union sanctions.
Asian imports of Iranian crude increased by 12 percent in April from the previous month to a four-month high of almost 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), topping a level allowed under economic sanctions.
A top official told Mehr News Agency anonymously on May 15 that the contracted tankers with Iran's client refineries in Japan have returned to Iranian ports since last year, while the contracted tankers of Chinese and Turkish refiners also started coming back to transit Iranian oil recently.
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