Iran is ready to challenge the United Arab Emirates in fuel bunkering to vessels in the Persian Gulf, said the head of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, adding bunkering revenues have risen 20 percent over the past six months.
Nasser Sajjadi said Iran plans to expand the sale of diesel and mazut to the tanker fleet in the region once the sanctions are lifted, Mehr News Agency reported.
"The removal of sanctions provides an excellent opportunity to make a fortune in oil bunkering in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman," he said.
"UAE is our main rival in bunkering fuel to tankers in the Persian Gulf … Tehran is planning to claim a bigger share in the region's bunkering business by offering exceptionally high-quality mazut," he added.
Iran and six world powers reached a historic deal on July 14 in Vienna that would limit the Persian Gulf country’s nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on its energy and financial industries.
According to reports, Iran supplied two million tons of mazut and 100,000 tons of diesel fuel through bunkering in March-September. NIOPDC launched bunkering operations in 2006 in the southern province of Bandar Abbas. The company is currently refueling thousands of vessels per year.
Last month, Trend News Agency reported that Iran had made $3.1 billion from bunkering over the past two years.
Officials put Iran's surplus mazut output at 41 million liters per day which are either sold via bunkering centers in the Persian Gulf or exported to the Port of Fujairah in the UAE.