Iran Agrees to Revive Oil Swap Deal With Kazakhstan
TEHRAN - Iran has also agreed to resume an oil swap deal with Kazakhstan some 10 years after the deal stalled due to technical and political problems.
Iranian Petroleum Ministry has reported that a final agreement had been reached on the restoration of the oil swap deal between Iran and Kazakhstan during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the Kazakh capital of Astana, earlier this week.
The report cited a statement from Raisi upon his return from Astana where he attended a major regional summit while he also held meetings with senior Kazakh government officials to discuss increased economic and trade ties between Iran and Kazakhstan.
Raisi said the two countries had agreed to increase the volume of their annual trade to $3 billion. It was not clear how much the oil swap deal would affect the bilateral trade ties between the two countries.
Iran has been seeking an increased role in regional energy trade amid a global rise in demand for energy.
The country is in currently a natural gas swap agreement with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan while it is discussing a similar deal for importing natural gas from Russia and delivering the same amount of gas to unidentified Russian customers in the Persian Gulf.
Experts say swap deals can benefit Iran in various ways, including on transit fees and through lowering the costs of transporting energy to domestic consumption centers.
16th Iran-Russia Joint Economic Energy Commission to Be Held
The 16th Joint Economic Energy Commission of Iran and Russia will be held from October 29 to November 1 in Russia.
Following the decision of the Council of Ministers to hand over the responsibility of the Joint Economic Commission with Russia to Javad Owji, Minister of Petroleum, and after the President’s visit to Russia, it was decided to make preparations for the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission with Russia.
Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, is also the head of the Iran-Russia Joint Commission from Russia.
Under the joint economic commission with Russia, 19 working groups have been defined, which include a diverse range of activities in the fields of energy, transportation, science and technology, etc.
Ahmad Asadzadeh, deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs and Trade, is the Iranian Chairman of the Energy Committee of the Iran-Russia Joint Commission.
Iran and Russia have very high capacities in terms of oil and gas reserves and geopolitical position, and by working together they can create new equations in the field of international economy.