Following the signing of oil contracts with Russian, French and Spansih companies, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has reached an agreement with the Greek Hellenic Petroleum S.A. company on the sales of Iranian crude.
Mehdi Asali, the General Director of OPEC Affairs in Iran's Oil Ministry, said in a report “being the largest Greek oil company, Hellenic Petroleum remains a traditional costumer of Iranian crude and the first oil shipment will be delivered at the Greek company by the end of March, 2016.”
Deputy Oil Minister for International & Commercial Affairs Amir Hossein Zamaninia had said earlier that Greece will soon settle its debt to Iran within the framework of an MoU; “during my recent visit to Greece, a preliminary agreement was reached for paying off debts of Hellenic Petroleum as well as for oil purchases from Iran," he commented.
Following a meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on November 30, 2015, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh had said Hellenic Petroleum’s debt mounts to $755 million while the total debt of Greek companies to Iran reaches $800 million; “certain proposals have been made on retiring the debts.”
“Iran’s Tadbir Energy Development Group has voiced willingness to buy shares at Greek refineries which will be backed by the Oil Ministry,” Zanganeh had maintained after the meeting.
Meanwhile, NIOC Managing Director Roknodin Javadi had earlier emphasized that no definite statement can be made on credit selling of oil to Greece’s refineries during the post sanction period; “we need to see how indebted Greek refineries meet previous obligations before taking further measures.”
In the years 2010 to 2012, Greece had paid about 5 to 6 billion dollars for the purchase of Iranian oil, but the halt in imports from Iran due to international sanctions as well as the stoppage in Libya’s oil production in the same period, had forced Greek companies to increase oil purchase from Russia and Kazakhstan.
HA/3581537