An NIOC official announced that the existing oil export contract with Turkey’s largest refinery has been extended.
Executive Director for International Affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyyed Mohsen Ghamsari discussed the latest status of crude oil sales to Turkey in the post-sanction era saying “oil export deal with Tüpraş, Turkey’s largest refiner, has become extended.”
The official said the volume of oil exports to Turkey remains equal to that of the year 2015 asserting “negotiations have kicked off with the neighboring country over increasing the sales figure.”
Ghamsari emphasized that oil sales to Turkey might experience fluctuations for certain periods of time though the average amount remains constant in the long run; “in other words, each company might vary its consumption or production under different circumstances.”
“The average amount of crude exports to Turkey remains at about 100 thousand barrels per day,” underlined the official stressing “Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation, known as TÜPRAŞ, is capable of purchasing oil from various countries.”
NIOC executive director for international affairs recalled that the possibility exists for Turkey to buy crude oil from Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia as well as other countries; “nevertheless, the amount of cooperation between Iran and Turkey over oil sales remains at a satisfactory level.”
In 2015, Turkey imported a total of more than one million barrels of crude oil and other oil products per day.
The amount of Iraq’s crude sales to Turkey became twofold in 2015 to reach a total of 230 thousand barrels per day offering Iraq 43 per cent of Turkey’s oil market.
Iran managed to export a daily amount of 110 thousand oil barrels to Turkey in the previous year gaining a share of 22 per cent in the neighboring country’s market.
Countries like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan mark other large exporters of crude oil to Turkey.
Iran and Iraq have always had rivalry over development of joint fields and the removal of sanctions has triggered a fresh round of competitiveness between the two OPEC-member countries.
Oil Minister of Iran Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has reported on final talks with Turkey’s refineries over trebling the amount of oil exports in which case Iran’s crude sales to Turkey will increase from the current 100 thousand barrels to a total of 300 thousand barrels per day.