Baku, Azerbaijan, June 27
By Emil Ilgar – Trend:
Repsol S.A., Spain's largest oil company, has signed a deal to import as much as one million barrels per day (mn b/d) of oil from Iran in July, Shana news agency reported.
One of the primary aims of Iran, after restrictions on oil sales were eased, was to regain its markets in Europe. Before the latest sanctions were imposed in 2012, Iran was exporting about 600,000 b/d of crude to countries in the European Union, with Italy, Spain and Greece its biggest buyers.
On March 6, the Monte Toledo oil tanker became the first to deliver Iranian crude to Europe since mid-2012. The tanker covered the uneventful voyage from Iran to Europe with a haul of 1 million barrels of crude. It started offloading its cargo into a refinery owned by Compania Espanola de Petroleos in southern Spain.
Since April, Iran has been expanding the list of buyers of its crude in Europe and the Mediterranean region, and shipments are underway after deals with Shell and Repsol, according to Argus Media.
Spain was the largest European importer of Iranian crude in April, as cargoes ramped up following the ending of EU and US nuclear sanctions on Tehran.
Cepsa and Repsol have purchased crude from Iran's state-owned NIOC. The March cargo arrived in Algeciras.
Meanwhile, the executive director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company, Mohsen Qamsari, said on June 12 that Iran has signed deals to sell crude oil to seven European companies.
Long-term deals are signed with Saras SpA and Eni of Italy, Spain's Repsol, Hellenic Petroleum SA of Greece, France's Total, Switzerland's Vitol Group as well as Lukoil of Russia, he added.
"So far, agreements for the sale of nearly 700,000 b/d have been signed," Qamsari said, adding that the crude exports have been already started for the companies.
According to International Energy Agency, Iran exported around 150,000 b/d of oil to Spain in 2011, but the figure declined to 50,000 barrels in 2016.
Iran's observed crude oil exports, which exceeded 2 million barrels a day in both April and May, slipped by almost 20 percent in the first three weeks of June, Bloomberg reported on June 26.
Production reached pre-sanctions levels of 3.6 million b/d in April and maintained that level in May, the IEA estimates.
Iran’s own figures have output climbing to 3.8 million b/d in May, with plans to hit 4 million b/d by the end of the year and ultimately reach 4.8 million b/d within five years, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said June 3 in Vienna. With Total, Eni SpA and BP Plc having expressed interest in developing Iran’s resources, Zanganeh predicts the first deals with foreign companies will be signed within three months.