TEHRAN – Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said the future U.S. sanctions on Iran will not affect the oil swap agreement reached in December 2017 between the two countries, Reuters reported. The minister made the remarks on the sidelines of on OPEC meeting in Vienna on Friday.

Based on the agreement, Iraq is going to send 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the northern Kirkuk fields in return for Iranian oil which is going to be delivered to southern Iraq, with the crude trucked to Iran’s Kermanshah.

For the time being, the minister said crude being shipped to Iran was being made in payment for electricity Iraq had received, rather than as a crude swap.

“We have just started really small quantities for their refineries, not on a swap basis,” he told reporters.

The transportation was to start in late January and oil officials have declined to give reasons for the delay other than it was technical in nature.

EF/MA