Iran discussing oil imports with Iraq

Iran has announced plans to import up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day from Iraq to feed a refinery in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan.

Talks are underway to finalize a deal to import Iraq’s light crude through a pipeline connecting Iraq’s main oil hub of Basra to the Iranian oil-rich city of Abadan, Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Noureddin Shahnazizadeh was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

In return for oil imports from Iraq, Iran has agreed to supply Iraq with 1.5 million tons of fuel oil and 1.5 million tons of diesel fuel per day, Mehr reported.

The 200,000 bpd of oil imported from Iraq will be used to feed part of a refinery in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Iran is the second-biggest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). However, only part of its gasoline needs is produced in the country while thousands of dollars are spent for gasoline imports.

Iraq is the holder of the world’s third-largest oil reserves. However, six years of conflict following the US invasion has battered the country’s oil industry, hindering its ability to quickly increase production.

Iraq is attracting investors in a bid to push cash into its economy and boost its oil output to about 6 million bpd by 2015, from about 2.5 million bpd currently produced.

(Source: Press TV)

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