Tehran, Iran, Oct.19.
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Offering oil via the energy exchange is a “reasonable decision”, said Ali GolMoradi a member of Iranian Parliament's Energy Commission.
”For a lot of reasons, it can be successful. Oil is offered at its true price, there is transparency and competition," he said.
According to local media reports, Iran will start offering oil via its energy exchange next week.
Referring to the case of Babak Zanjani, who played a key role in helping Iran get around sanctions to sell oil abroad during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he says that Iran was exporting through monopoly companies and individuals like Zanjani, and this turned into massive corruption.
"By selling oil via the exchange, the Ministry of Oil and the government will deal with companies, not countries, so this time, the companies will do international transactions," he said.
On Aug. 7, the United States re-imposed sanctions on the purchase or acquisition of U.S. dollars by the Iranian government, Iran's trade in gold and precious metals, and on the direct and indirect sale, supply and transfer to or from Iran of graphite, raw or semi-finished metals, coal and industrial-related software. Sanctions also reapplied to financial transactions.
The oil buyers should be able to manage international transactions. The restrictions on private sector in international banking system are smaller, compared to the challenges facing state-owned companies, Golmoradi said.
He went on to add that corruption is an inevitable part of business and trade, especially when a country is under sanctions. This happens in the private sector as well, he said.
“But in the exchange everything is transparent. We determine how much oil will be supplied, and the competition will be formed between private companies and private sector investors. Corruption in private sector, due to custom regulations, is limited,” he said.