Baku, Azerbaijan Feb. 15
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
An Iranian oil tanker has left the country for Indonesia carrying the Islamic Republic’s first crude shipment to the southeastern Asian country in the post-sanctions era.
The oil tanker is expected to duck at a port in Indonesia on Feb.19 to handover its cargo to Cilacap Refinery, IRNA news agency reported.
The issue appears to be a significant development as Jakarta has never been considered as a major importer of Iranian oil and this is Tehran’s first oil delivery to Indonesia since sanctions against the Islamic Republic were lifted last January.
The oil delivery is taking place in a situation that Tehran and Jakarta earlier launched talks on investment in oil industry.
Through the talks Jakarta is following up a plan to invest in Iranian oil industry’s upstream sector, with Tehran seeking investment in Indonesian downstream sector. Iran reportedly was negotiating a plan to purchase shares of refineries in Indonesia, India and the Europe last September.
According the US Energy Information Administration, Iran’s crude oil output increased from 3.03 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 1Q16 to 3.7 mb/d in 4Q16, while the average output was 3.45 mb/d in 2016. Iran’s current volume of oil exports stands at about 2.2 mb/d.
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