NIOC to allow oil swap by private sector

TEHRAN,Nov.12(MNA) -- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said there is no barrier to oil swaps by private companies and is ready to sign relevant contracts with the Iranian private sector. NIOC director general for international affairs, Seyyed Mohsen Qamsari, said on Wednesday that the company is ready to consider private sector's proposals to receive crude oil consignments for the purpose of oil swap. “The country's entire oil swap infrastructure is ready to cooperate with Iran's private sector and if Iranian companies are receiving oil consignments from Central Asia, NIOC is completely ready to sign contracts with them,” he said . The official stated that following a recent meeting with Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, NIOC has been considering all requests by the private sector for oil swap cooperation. According to official statistics released by NIOC, an average of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil produced by Caspian Sea littoral countries is currently being swapped for delivery in the Persian Gulf and the figure is expected to hit 70,000 bpd in a few months. Iran stopped oil swap with Caspian Sea littoral states in April 2010 after having swapped their oil for 13 years. The then NIOC officials noted that the measure was taken to prevent the country from becoming a buyer of Central Asian oil. On July 2, 2011, NIOC Managing Director Ahmad Qalebani announced the resumption of oil swaps with Caspian states, saying that the volume of oil swap was being negotiated. In September 2011, Qamsari announced that Tehran was planning to gradually boost the volume of oil swap with Caspian Sea littoral states. He noted that almost 500,000 bpd of crude oil had been delivered to Neka Port in northern Iran since oil swap operations with the Caspian Sea littoral states were resumed. Iran imports oil from the Central Asian countries to be refined at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries and then delivered to buyers in the Persian Gulf. The country is the second largest oil exporter within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and also holds the world's third largest proven oil reserves.