Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Talks are underway for resuming crude oil swap with Caspian Sea littoral states through Iran’s Neka oil terminal, an informed source told Trend Aug. 18.
At the first step Iran considers crude oil swap with Kazakhstan and Russia, which already were using the Neka oil terminal, he said, adding most likely the crude oil swap will start within one month.
Representatives from the both countries are scheduled to visit the oil terminal next week to study the issue, he said.
Regarding crude oil swap with Azerbaijan, he said that the parties should hold talks to reach an agreement regarding the issue.
The volume which will be swapped most likely will be less than 100,000 barrels per day but will increase in next phases, the Iranian oil official added.
Talks are also underway with certain international companies which are interested to involve in crude oil swap via Neka port, he said.
He further said that The Neka oil terminal is also capable for swap of oil products as well as LPG, given its facilities.
Tehran plans to increase the swap capacity with Caspian states from the current level of 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.5 million bpd.
The Hague International Court of Justice fined NICO of Iran $5.5 million due to stopping the swap of oil with its international partners. Under oil swap agreements, which started in 1997 and were in place for over 12 years, Iran received crude oil of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in the Neka port and delivered an equal volume to the clients of the same countries in Persian Gulf.
The total income received by Iran from these swap transactions from 1997 to 2009 amounted to about $880 million.