Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.13/ Trend F.Milad/
The Caspian Sea littoral states have stopped swapping oil with Iran; the Fars News Agency quoted an Iranian oil official as saying on Friday.
The measure has been taken following Iran's insistence on increasing swap rates, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, an official with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on July 7 absolutely rejected some news claiming that Iran has stopped swapping crude oil, saying that two ships carry Iranian oil over the Caspian Sea and deliver at the Persian Gulf on a weekly basis.
The Mehr News Agency quoted the unnamed official as saying that swapping crude oil is underway as it was in the past. "Crude oil is loaded at the Neka Port and delivered to international customers at the Persian Gulf".
Between 15,000-30,000 barrels of crude oil is swapped per day despite sanctions against the Islamic Republic's oil industry, the official noted.
"Iran has provided the necessary facilities to increase the oil swap with Central Asian countries through its northern oil terminal, the managing director of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC) said in February.
Pirouz Mousavi said that IOTC is ready to increase oil swap operations between Iran and its oil-producing neighbours in Central Asia.
The official stated that the company gives priority to upgrading its oil swap terminal at Neka, in northern Iran, as the starting point of a major pipeline project which will connect the terminal to the port city of Jask in southern Iran.
According to official statistics released by NIOC, an average of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil produced by Caspian Sea littoral countries is currently being swapped for delivery in the Persian Gulf and the figure is expected to hit 70,000 bpd in the coming months.
Iran stopped oil swaps with the Caspian Sea littoral states in April 2010 after having swapped their oil for 13 years. On July 2, 2011, NIOC managing director Ahmad Qalebani announced the resumption of oil swaps with Caspian states, saying that the volume of oil swap was being negotiated.
The oil Iran imports from Central Asian countries are refined in Tehran and Tabriz and then delivered to buyers from the Persian Gulf.
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