Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
French oil and gas company Total has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to purchase crude oil from the Islamic Republic.
The MOU was signed Jan. 28 by the National Iranian Oil Company and Total on the sidelines of a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Francois Hollande in Elysee Palace, Paris, IRINN TV reported.
Earlier, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh announced Tuesday that Total has willingness to buy Iranian oil.
Press TV also quoted Total's Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne as saying Jan. 28 that Total is going to sign a contract to purchase 150,000-200,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude oil.
Before sanctions were imposed in 2012 over Iran, EU was importing about 800,000 barrels of Iranian oil and condensate.
The commencement of the nuclear deal on Jan. 16 eliminated sanctions and European companies can now resume oil purchase from Iran.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani started his visit to France today.
Iranian government ordered the National Oil Company to add 500,000 barrels per day to production level and increase this volume to one million barrels per day in the second half of 2016.
Before Total, Greece's biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum agreed on Friday to buy crude oil from Iran.
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 sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2011, according to a Reuters report.