TEHRAN: Greece will buy about quarter of its required crude imports from Iran under a long-term supply agreement with Iran’s national oil company NIOC, according to official Iranian reports over the weekend.
In the first European crude supply deal under Iran’s post-sanctions era, Greece’s biggest refiner Hellenic Petroleum agreed to an “immediate start” of Iranian crude imports under the supply deal reached with NIOC on Friday, the refiner said separately.
The deal, which includes the settlement of outstanding crude payments to NIOC, was reached during a visit to Athens by Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs Amirhossein Zamaninia, Iran’s IRNA state news agency reported.
Greece was one of Europe’s main buyers of Iranian oil before the European Union banned crude imports as part of 2012 sanctions against Tehran’s nuclear program. In 2011, Greece imported an average 122,300 b/d of Iranian crude, making it the country Iran’s third biggest European customer behind Italy and Spain.
Greece’s total crude imports averaged about 420,000 b/d during the first 10 months of 2015, according to official EU data. Hellenic owns three of Greece’s four refineries with a total processing capacity of 343,000 b/d. It accounts for about 33% of Greece’s retail sales and for 65% of its refining market.
According to Iran’s oil ministry news service Shana, Hellenic owes Iran $755 million in unpaid crude imports payments held up due to the imposition of sanctions in 2012.
The European Council lifted its nuclear-related sanctions January 16 paving the way for the resumption Iranian crude sales to the region. As a region, the EU had imported nearly 600,000 b/d of Iranian crude and condensate before the tightening of sanctions in 2012.
