Iran finalizes deal on oil export to Hungary
The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has finalized a deal to export crude oil to Hungary, Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs at the NIOC, said.
The deal to export a 1-million-barrel oil cargo to the European country in next month has been concluded, Qamsari said.
All crude oil shipments to Europe should be 1-million-barrel to be able to cross the Suez Canal, Qamsari said.
Prior to sanctions, France, Italy, Spain and the UK were among Iran's traditional customers in Europe. Nonetheless, since sanctions were terminated last January, East European states have also submitted proposals to purchase oil from Iran.
Negotiations for crude export to Hungary launched in early 2016.
In mid-July, Qamsari said Hungarian multinational oil and gas company MOL called for importing 40,000 barrels of light crude oil per day from Iran. However, he added that Tehran is not ready to provide MOL with light crude currently.
Iran’s August crude oil exports jumped 15 percent from July to more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd). The volume is close to Tehran's pre-sanctions shipment levels in 2011.
The strong demand in Iran’s crude in Asia and Europe has enabled it to raise its oil output to just over 3.8 million bpd, still below the 4 million bpd level termed by Tehran as a precondition for discussing output limits with other oil producers.
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