With almost three months having passed from the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the exports of Iranian crude oil to South Africa have not officially started yet.
Accordingly, the new round of oil talks between the two countries kicked off in Tehran on Saturday morning at the presence of Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as well as the South African Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
Iran’s Zanganeh deemed the session as an appropriate prelude to tomorrow’s meeting between the two countries’ presidents; “given the removal of international sanctions, the conditions for Iran have completely changed as compared with the past.”
“South Afirca has been a major buyer of Iranian crude,” highlighted the official expressing hope that trade relations between the two sides will get boosted as soon as possible.
South African President Jacob Zuma is scheduled to arrive in Tehran on April 23 at the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani while he will be officially welcomed by President Rouhani on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Executive Director for International Affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari had recently pointed to the inking of an oil sale contract with Royal-Dutch Shell oil company noting “in case of reaching a final agreement, Iran will supply a portion of oil demand at Shell’s refineries located in South Africa.”
In response to a question about the amount of oil sales to Royal Dutch Shell Oil Industry Company in case of sealing a deal, Ghamsari estimated that grounds will be provided for selling oil in accordance with pre-sanctions period which amounted to 100 thousand barrels per day.
The NIOC official emphasized that so far several talks have been conducted with Royal Dutch Shell, BP (British Petroleum) as well as Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) of Malaysia; “overall, Iran will supply a portion of oil required by Shell’s refineries in South Africa.”
Managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Roknodin Javadi had also noted the possible transfer of Iranian oil to the American oil company called Chevron South Africa Private Limited during the post-sanction period adding “on the basis of the Iranian government’s policies, there exists no ban on the sale of crude oil to US refineries in the African country.”
The South African Deputy Minister of Energy, Ambassador Thembisile Majola had also announced South Africa’s plan to purchase oil from Iran saying “majority of South African refineries are managed by foreign companies and we could encourage them to resume trade with Tehran following the removal of oil sanctions.”
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