Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.1
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's oil swap project can boost relations with neighbors, said Abbas-Ali Ja'farinasab, the managing director of the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunication Company.
Ja'farinasab said that the country's senior oil officials are planning to resume crude oil swap operations via the northern Neka port, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on October 1.
Crude oil swap operations, which have been halted for different reasons, should be resumed, as the project will bring many economic benefits for the country and will boost relations with neighboring countries as well, he added.
Mahmoud Astaneh, advisor to the Iranian oil minister, said on August 15 that the oil minister has issued an order for resuming crude oil swap operations.
The cancellation of oil swaps unilaterally by Iran in 2010 put heavy legal burdens on the country, he added.
The Hague International Court of Justice fined Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO) of Iran for $5.5 million on June 14 due to stopping the swap of oil with its international partners.
In 2010, the swap of 70,000-90,000 barrels of oil between Iran and other Caspian states came to a halt after 10 years. At that time, unofficial sources said Iran had decided to increase the swap fee from $1.1 to $5.5 per barrel.
Based on Iran's fifth five-year development plan (2010-2015), the country should boost the volume of crude oil swap from 5 million metric tons annually (about 100,000 barrels per day) to 18 million metric tons (about 317,000 barrels per day).
Iran previously signed deals with Select Energy Trading, Dragon Oil of the UAE, Vitol of Switzerland, and Caspian Oil Development of Ireland, to swap crude oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.