"Iran has reached an agreement with China for the export of more than
400,000 bpd,” Mohsen Qamsari, director general for international affairs
at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said.
He said NIOC has renewed its crude oil selling agreements with refiners in India, China, South Korea, Japan and Turkey.
"The volume of Iran’s oil exports to Japanese refineries will average around 140,000 bpd,” said Qamsari.
Iran's crude oil exports have been rising since Tehran reached a
breakthrough deal with six world powers over its nuclear energy program
last November.
Last Thursday, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the
country will not accept any limitation to the export of its crude oil.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus
Germany signed the Geneva deal on November 24, 2013. The two sides
started to implement the agreement on January 20.
Under the Geneva agreement, the six countries agreed to provide Iran
with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit
certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.
Iran, an OPEC member, holds the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and the largest natural gas reserves.
The country's total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more
than 560 billion barrels, with about 140 billion barrels of recoverable
oil. Heavy and extra heavy varieties of crude oil account for roughly
70-100 billion barrels of the total reserves.
(Tehran Times, May 13, 2014)
(Tehran Times, May 13, 2014)
