Executive Director for International Affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari touched upon eagerness of Iraqi Kurdistan to export oil via Iran saying “they have put in the request although it has not been complied with yet.”
He noted that Iraqi Kurdistan is now transferring its oil through two pipelines to a Turkish terminal from where the product is deployed to global markets; “conducting the same project inside Iran would require certain technical measures including construction of facilities or new pipelines.”
“Exporting crude oil of Iraqi Kurdistan from Iran’s route needs to be done by means of land which brings about exorbitant costs,” added the official.
He went on to mention the possibility to exploit Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil in Iranian refineries as an operational solution.
Ghamsari reiterated that exports of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil through above-ground pipelines would be costly and time-consuming recalling “relevant negotiations are underway and no final conclusion has been reached so far.”
The NIOC official also referred to mixture of petroleum products as a way to attract more customers and underlined that consumption of different world refineries has changed as many of them no more rely on only one type of crude oil.
“A number of refinery complexes tend to purchase and mix various types of crude oil as a means of keeping the balance between revenue and profit,” stressed Ghamsari adding “in some instances, 30 to 40 different types of crude oil are blended.”
He deemed mingling of petroleum products as a common method to increase customer satisfaction emphasizing “mixing facilities will be implemented in Kharg Oil Terminal in order to strengthen the country’s marketing strategy.”
He underlined that the mixing process, as a new option in oil contracts, will be carried out upon the customer’s request; “currently, a total of 40 world refineries are using crude oil of Iran,” the official concluded.