Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 9
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Iran's oil and condensate export revenues reached $34 billion during the first three quarters of current Iranian calendar year, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Jan. 9.
Iran's calendar year started on March 20.
According to Mehr News Agency, Zanganeh added that $32 billion of the mentioned figure has been receipted and deposited to the Treasury.
Zanganeh said that 14.5 percent of total oil revenues belong to the National Oil Company, and 26 percent is deposited to the Foreign Exchange Reserve Account.
The remaining value is deposited to the Treasury.
Iranian Oil Minister hasn't mentioned whether the oil revenues transferred in or not.
According to the existing sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Iran, Iran's oil customers have been allowed to transfer the oil payments into a bank account inside their own countries and Iran can only access these assets to purchase non-banned goods inside that country.
The value of Iran's inaccessible assets abroad is between $60 billion to $70 billion, according to reports.
Iran's exports of crude oil and lease condensate in 2012 dropped to their lowest level since 1986 as the United States and the European Union tightened sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, according to the U.S Energy Information Administration report released in April 2013.
According to this report, Iran's 2012 net estimated oil export revenue, at $69 billion, was significantly lower than the $95 billion total generated in 2011.
Zanganeh's $34 bln figure shows that the country's oil revenues plunged against the 2012 figure and would decline further if the current rate of income continues.
Oil exports make up 80 percent of Iran's total export earnings and 50 percent to 60 percent of its government revenue, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
After achieving a nuclear deal between Iran and the Sextet powers on November 24, 2013, the West promised to unblock a part of Iran's inaccessible assets outside the country.
Edited by C.N.