A senior oil official said Iran is ready to resume crude exports to Egypt which used to transport Iranian oil through the Suez Canal and internal pipelines prior to the 2012 sanctions on Tehran.
Egyptian oil officials have said they were looking to Iran's return to the market once the sanctions are lifted in early 2016. Former Egyptian oil minister Sherif Ismail said in July that Egypt had no objections to importing crude from Iran, Press TV reported.
"Iran has no restrictions on the sales of crude oil or petroleum products to Egypt," said Deputy Oil Minister and Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Rokneddin Javadi on Monday.
"In case a formal proposal is made, it will be subject to consideration," he added.
Egypt's Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said earlier this month that his country sought a rise in oil volumes through the Sumed pipeline once Iran returned to pre-sanction export levels.
State-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corp owns the 320-km Sumed which runs from the Red Sea to the port of Sidi Kerir.
"They (Iran) used to work with us through Sumed. They used to store crude at the Ain Sukhna terminal and Sidi Kerir," Reuters quoted El Molla as saying on the sidelines of an Egypt investor forum in London.
Iran's return to the market "will boost the activity of Sumed again", he added.