Iran to boost oil swaps to 200,000 bpd

Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says Iran intends to boost the volume of its oil swaps to 200,000 barrels per day by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2012).

Ahmad Qale’bani emphasized that bartering oil is high on the agenda of NIOC, adding that the company is in talks with Central Asian countries to increase the volume of its oil swaps, which currently stands at 25,000 barrels per day, Shana reported on Wednesday.

The official noted that new contracts on oil bartering will be finalized soon.

Pointing to the country’s potential in swapping oil products, Qale’bani said that by using newly devised mechanisms, the demand for trading oil through barter deals will definitely climb in coming months.

Earlier in September, International Affairs Director of NIOC Mohsen Qamsari announced Tehran plans to gradually boost the volume of oil swaps with Caspian Sea littoral countries.

According to Qamsari, almost 500,000 barrels of crude oil have been delivered to Neka Port in northern Iran since the resumption of oil swap operations with the Caspian Sea littoral states in July.

Iran imports oil from the Central Asian countries for refining at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries and then delivers the product to buyers in the Persian Gulf.

Iran is the second largest oil exporter within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).