Tehran, Iran, Apr. 22
By Temkin Jafarov- Trend:
Iran says that the crude oil swap capacity between the Caspian littoral states will be boosted soon.
The country has stopped a 13 year-long oil swap with the Caspian littoral states five years ago, but recently it started negotiations to resume the swap operations, Shana news agency reported.
Iran used to swap about 254 million barrels of Caspian crude oil and gained $880 million in 13 years, but these operations stopped due to swap fees in 2010. Iran persisted on five-folding the swap fees to $5/barrel, but this demand was not accepted.
The head of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC), Pirouz Mousavi said on April 22 that the oil storage facilities in Neka port have been repaired and now Iran possesses 9 storage facilities, each one with 150,000 barrels storing capacity.
"Iran currently has a daily 260,000-barrel crude oil swap capacity, while the ships with 12,000 tons capacity can dock in Neka," he said.
In autumn 2014, during an official visit of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani to Astana, it was announced that Kazakhstan and Iran can resume oil swaps.
Iranian ambassador to Turkmenistan, Mohammad Musa Hashemi Golpayegani told Trend Apr.19 that that Iran is ready to start oil exchange (swap) with its northern neighbors again.