Iran ready to boost Caspian Sea oil swaps

TEHRAN,Feb.20(MNA)--Iran is ready to increase oil swaps in the Caspian Sea and has made preparations in this regard, Pirooz Mousavi, the managing director of Oil Terminals Company, said on Sunday. According to official statistics released by National Iranian Oil Company, an average of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil produced by Caspian Sea littoral countries is currently being swapped for delivery in the Persian Gulf and the figure is expected to hit 70,000 bpd in a few months. Iran stopped oil swap with Caspian Sea littoral states in April 2010 after having swapped their oil for 13 years. The then NIOC officials noted that the measure was taken to prevent the country from becoming a buyer of Central Asian oil. On July 2, 2011, NIOC Managing Director Ahmad Qalebani announced the resumption of oil swaps with Caspian states, saying that the volume of oil swap was being negotiated. In September 2011, Iran announced that it was planning to gradually boost the volume of oil swap with Caspian Sea littoral states.