TEHRAN- The next (seventh) round of offering crude oil will be held at Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) on March 11, IRNA reported.

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) offered one billion barrels of crude oil at the base price of $59.63 at IRENEX for the sixth time on Monday.

The least amount of sales was 35,000 barrels like the previous rounds, although like the fourth offering the sixth round wrapped up with no sales.

NIOC offered crude oil at IRENEX first on October 28, just few days before new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s petroleum sector took effect (November 4). In the first round, NIOC could sell some 280,000 barrels of crude oil at $74.85 per barrel. With the daily supply amount of one million barrels, the market wrapped up by selling eight 35,000-barrel cargos of oil on the day.

The second round was on November 11 for offering 700,000 barrels of light crude oil at the price of $76.29 per barrel.

NIOC offered one million barrels of light crude oil at IRENEX for the third time on January 21. The set price for that round of oil sale was $52.42 per barrel.

The third round witnessed some advantages compared to the first and second rounds to facilitate purchase process for the applicants.

The fourth round of offering took place on February 4, when one million barrels of light crude oil was offered at the base price of $56.24 per barrel and the least amount of sale was 35,000 barrels. This round ended with no deals.

Then on February 18, NIOC sold 35,000 barrels of light crude oil at IRENEX at the base price of $52.25 per barrel for the fifth time.

Since the U.S.’s withdrew from Iran’s nuclear pact in May 2018, vowing to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero, the Islamic Republic has been taking various measures to counter U.S. actions and to keep its oil exports levels as high as possible.

One of the main strategies that Iran chose to execute to help its oil exports afloat has been trying new ways to diversify the mechanism of oil sales, one of which is offering oil at the country’s stock market.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that NIOC will offer crude oil at IRENEX every week.

The minister said that it may take some time for selling crude oil at IRENEX to be common and regular, but the oil ministry will offer the product at this market every week.

MA/MA