Baku, Azerbaijan, March 25
By Emil Ilgar - Trend:
Iran is in talks to purchase the shares of an oil refinery or build a new refinery in Spain, Abbas Kazemi, the managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) told Shana.
He didn't mention whether Iran is negotiating to purchase the shares of a specific refinery in Spain or not.
Kazemi who also serves as the deputy of oil minister, said that the same talks are being held with Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Indonesia.
"Becoming the shareholder of refineries abroad is the ministry's priority to guarantee its oil exports in long-term," he added.
Before, Hamid Sharif-Razi, the managing director at the National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company (NIOEC), told Shana Feb.8 that Iran already holds a 30-percent share in construction of a refinery with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day in Malaysia, and Iranian side is in talks to buy a 40-percent share in another refinery in Indonesia with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
Last year, Iran turned its sights on India, as Kazemi had said on Nov. 18 that Iran started talks to buy an equity stake in India's Essar refinery. However, a spokesperson for Essar Oil and Gas Ltd. told Trend that the company didn't have discussions on the sale of its shares to Iran.