Baku, Azerbaijan, May 19
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran has stored gas condensate consignments on tankers due to technical problems in a Chinese refinery, said Mohsen Qamsari, the Director of International Affairs of Iran's Oil Ministry.
"Due to some technical problems which have occurred in the Chinese refinery, this customer of Iranian gas condensates is not currently able to take the gas condensate consignments," Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Qamsari as saying May 19.
However, the country is facing no specific problems for marketing, selling, and exporting condensate, he added.
The only problem is the transfer of foreign currency petrodollars to the country's banking system, he noted.
The country exported over $14 billion worth of condensate during the last fiscal year, according to the Customs Administration's latest monthly report.
The report said Iran exported 19.124 million metric tons of condensate during last year, or averagely, 440,113 barrels per day, which indicates a 44.64 percent increase year-on-year.
Rokneddin Javadi, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, said on May 18 that Iran currently has less than 10 million barrels of crude stored onboard tankers that could be released post-sanctions depending on market conditions.
Iran hopes its crude oil exports will return to pre-sanctions levels within three months once a deal with major powers to lift an oil embargo is finalised, he said.
The sanctions have more than halved Iranian oil exports since 2012 to about 1 million bpd, mainly to Asia.
Iran and the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) are talking a way into a comprehensive agreement on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
To be reached by July 1, a prospective agreement would remove international sanctions on Iran.
Edited by CN