TEHRAN-National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will offer one million barrels of light crude oil at Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) for the third time on January 21, IRNA reported on Monday.

The set price for this round of oil sale is $52.42 per barrel, Saeed Khoshrou, director of international affairs at NIOC, announced.

The purchasers can pay both in Iranian rial and in foreign currencies, the rate of which would be estimated at CBI’s online Sana system (accessible at sanarate.ir, a website that records daily forex trade from across the domestic exchange bureaus), the official said.

Earlier on November 11, NIOC offered 700,000 barrels of light crude oil at the price of $76.29 per barrel at IRENEX for the second time.

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

Establishment of IRENEX, which is considered as a turning point in Iran's strategic oil industry and capital market and also a platform for producers and consumers to be in touch and pay lower trade costs in a transparent business environment, can be translated into creation of a new energy stock market that results in economic development.  

The energy market is basically exports-oriented and has the capacity to increase Iranian oil customers both domestically and internationally. Price setting relies on the base price determined by NIOC according to global prices. Receiving a trading code, foreign companies can purchase oil cargos from IRENEX.

HJ/MA