TEHRAN - National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) offered 1000 tons of gasoil at the base price of $567 at the international ring of Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) on Tuesday, ILNA reported.

As reported, 500 tons of the offered cargo worth nearly 32 billion rials (about $762,000) was sold to domestic buyers.

As decided at IRENEX, the applicants have to initially pay 10 percent of the value of the contract in rials or other foreign currencies and in case their bidding is accepted they must pay the rest to receive the purchased cargo.

The buyer company will also be required to pay for loading and unloading costs at the source of delivery.

Since the U.S.’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.

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.

Back in February, director of supply and distribution at NIOPDC said the country’s daily gasoil production is 16 million liters more than the consumption so the company planned to offer the additional product at the country’s energy exchange.

According to Mojtaba Delbari, Iran’s daily gasoil output stood at 98.2 million liters at the time while the daily consumption was reported to be 81.8 million liters.

“With the third phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery becoming operational, the country’s potential capacity for storing refined products like gasoline and gasoil has increased significantly”, he noted.

President Rouhani inaugurated the third phase of the refinery in a ceremony on February 18 participated by the oil minister. 

The refinery in Bandar Abbas, the capital city of southern province of Hormozgan, is the first of its kind designed based on gas condensate feedstock.

EF/MA