Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 12 / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /
Swap operations (substitute exchange transactions) of oil between Kazakhstan and Iran may resume, Iranian ambassador in Astana Gorban Seyfi told Trend.
"The reasons for stopping oil swaps were technical in nature. Today we can safely resume swap operations," Seyfi said.
The ambassador said that Iran is ready to conduct oil swap operations. However, there are very few of them, only two tankers.
According to official statistics published by the National Iranian Oil Company, the amount of swap of crude oil from Caspian countries in the Persian Gulf region is nearly 20 thousand barrels per day, and is expected to reach 70 million barrels per day in the coming months.
Iran ceased oil swap operations with the Caspian littoral states that it had been conducting for nearly 13 years, in April 2010. In July 2011, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Ahmad Galebani announced the resumption of oil swap with Caspian states, saying that negotiations are underway on the volume of these transactions.
Oil transferred to Iran from Central Asia is processed in Tehran and Tabriz, and then sold in the Persian Gulf region.