Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 27
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Hungarian multinational oil and gas company MOL is interested in long-term cooperation with Iranian counterparts in oil sector, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister said.
Zamaninia made the remarks following a meeting with a senior delegation from MOL in Tehran, Mehr news agency reported Apr. 27.
The parties discussed investment opportunities in Iran’s oil and gas sector, Zamaninia said, adding that the Hungarian firm is keen to take part in Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in Iran.
Participation in Iranian gas export projects, as well as construction of gas transmission lines also are the topics of interest of the MOL for mutual cooperation, he said.
Zamaninia further said that the two parties also negotiated LPG import from Iran, as well as MOL’s involvement in refinery, LNG and NGLs projects.
The Hungarian firm has already purchased a crude oil consignment from Iran to test if the oil specifications conforms the Hungarian refineries, he said.
Each oil refinery is designed for a specific type of oil and can’t process other types. For changing the feedstock, the refinery should be re-designed and its equipments must be changed.
If the Hungarian refineries are able to refine the Iranian oil, the country will study future crude oil purchases from the Islamic Republic, Zamaninia said.
Negotiations for crude export to Hungary launched in early 2016.
In mid-July 2016, Qamsari said the MOL called for importing 40,000 barrels of light crude oil per day from Iran. However, at the time, he said Tehran was not ready to provide MOL with light crude.
Prior to sanctions, France, Italy, Spain and the UK were among Iran's traditional customers in Europe. Nonetheless, since sanctions were terminated in January 2016, Eastern European states have also submitted proposals to purchase oil from Iran.