Reuters: Iran denied on Friday reports that the Islamic state had purchased crude from sanctions-hit ally Syria, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted a senior oil official as saying.
TEHRAN Nov 25 (Reuters) – Iran denied on Friday reports that the Islamic state had purchased crude from sanctions-hit ally Syria, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted a senior oil official as saying.
Sanctions aimed at crude oil exports have warded off buyers of Syrian crude, which mainly flowed to Europe, causing storage tanks to brim and forcing cuts.
“In regard to buying the Syrian sanctioned oil, he said: This is by no means true. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has not purchased any Syrian crude oil,” head of NIOC Ahmad Qalebani told Mehr.
The International Oil Daily reported on Wednesday that an Iranian-owned entity this week lifted 80,000 tonnes (586,400 barrels) of Syrian crude, consisting 50,000 tonnes of heavy Souedie and 30,000 tonnes of Syrian Light, at Baniyas.
Syria produced around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the unrest of which about a third was exported. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi)
