TEHRAN- Since the start of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20), Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) has held two offerings of gas condensate and three offerings of Mazut (fuel oil) at its international ring, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)’s representative in IRENEX announced.

Amir-Hossein Tebyanian put the amount of offered gas condensate at 200,000 barrels and that of the fuel oi at 35,000 tons, Shana reported.

Since the U.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 lessen its economy’s reliance on oil.

The country also sought new strategies to help its oil exports afloat, one of which is diversifying the mechanism of oil sales, like offering oil and oil products at the country’s stock market.

In the past few years, Iranian think-tanks and energy experts have been repeatedly stating that the country should increase its refining capacity in order to lessen the economy’s reliance on crude sales. 

In this regard, one of the main strategies of the National Iranian Oil Company in recent years has been focusing on the country’s refineries and offering various oil products at IRENEX in order to increase the exports.

Last November, Oil Ministry released a statement in which new regulations and procedures for offering oil and gas condensate at Iran Energy Exchange were listed.

It was the second time that the oil ministry was revising the terms of crude oil and condensate offerings at IRENEX.

First, in May of 2019, NIOC decided to halt the offering of oil and gas condensate at IRENEX to prepare new guidelines for the later offerings. 

IRENEX, once an ordinary local market for energy commodities, has turned into a successful tool for bypassing the American sanctions imposed on Iran’s oil industry.

Major Iranian oil refineries have sold large cargoes of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to foreign customers since the trade for such products started in the local bourse last summer.

MA/MA