Tehran, Iran, May 22
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq is seeking a set of oil deals with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The KRG has requested to be given a transit route through Iran by which to export oil, KRG representative to Tehran, Nazim Omar Dabbagh told ILNA news agency May 22.
"We could also reach agreements to swap oil to meet the demands of refineries in the Iranian cities of Kermanshah, Tabriz, and then Arak and Tehran," he stated.
"Instead of Iran pumping oil from the south to Kermanshah, the KRG could do so with smaller cost."
"We are waiting for the related protocol to turn official so that the Iranian government and the KRG could take the responsibility of the export. The export for the onset will stand at 20,000 to 30,000 barrels per day, which will be likely to go higher."
On May 10, however, Seyyed Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), dismissed recent remarks by the officials of the KRG indicating that the KRG and Tehran had agreed to export KRG's crude oil through the Islamic Republic.