Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is shipping the last load of heavy crude oil that was stored in tankers in the Persian Gulf to the Suez Canal for delivery to buyers, an oil ministry official said.
All of the crude that was stored offshore in tankers since May has been sold, with the last 600,000 barrels of oil being sent to the Suez Canal, the official, who did not want to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires.
“Most of it (crude) is gone. In Khark Island, we have no oil left. The last of it is in a ship, 600,000 barrels of Forouzan (crude). We sent it to the Suez Canal to deliver to our customers. Some lift it from there,” the official added.
About 7 million barrels of mostly heavy crude oil that had still been held in offshore storage until recently was sold or processed during the last two weeks, according to the official.
“We sold 4 million barrels of Forouzan crude,” the official said, adding that buyers for the heavy crude included Italian, Spanish, South Korean and Indian customers.
Another 1 million barrels of Forouzan heavy crude was sent to Iran’s Bandar Abbas refinery, which has started processing the Forouzan crude for the first time, the official added.
The remaining 2 million barrels was light crude from Iran’s onshore fields that needed to be stored temporarily offshore and was subsequently sold to Spain, China, India and Japan, the official said.
“From time to time, if we have increased production, we need to store it,” the official said.
