Tehran, Iran, August 23
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
After a Kazakh delegation visited Iran, negotiations have started for the two countries to resume swapping crude oil, oil products, and liquefied gas.
During the trip, the Kazakh representative visited Iran's Northern Oil Terminal as the country's biggest oil terminal in the Caspian Sea, Mehr news agency reported August 23.
Iran and Caspian Sea littoral countries stopped swapping crude oil five years ago when international sanctions on Iran intensified. But as the sanctions are expected to be lifted, thanks to the recent Iranian nuclear deal with world powers, swap with Iran is looking economically more justified and the Caspian Sea littoral countries are considering return to business with Iran.
North Oil Terminal Director Hamidreza Shahdoust said the Kazakh delegation were satisfied with the infrastructure that exists in the terminal for transferring the intended goods.
He said the Kazakh officials will negotiate with the Iranian Oil Ministry on starting the swap in the near future.
Currently the terminal is able to receive and store up to 120 thousand barrels of crude a day. The number is said to be improvable to 200 thousand.
The terminal can also accommodate three tankers at a time each with capacities between five and six thousand metric tons and a waterline of four to 4.5 meters.