Turkish state-owned refinery Tupras renewed its oil purchase contract with the National Iranian Oil Company for a year and serious negotiations are underway to triple Iran's oil export to the Mediterranean country.
"The new contract calls for providing Turkey's only refinery with 100,000 barrels of crude per day for a year, and as soon as the new round of talks come to fruition, the export volume will increase by 300,000 barrels per day," Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, told Mehr News Agency.
Commenting on Iran's oil export volume to Turkey, the official added that although selling oil to the neighboring state may fluctuate over certain periods, its long-term average import from Iran stands at 100,000 bpd.
According to Qamsari, Turkey's Tupras has a wide choice to make oil contracts with different suppliers like Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, Iran's quality crude has always been a bargaining chip to attract potential customers such as Turkey.
"The Persian Gulf's oil export volume to its neighboring state was not outstanding in the pre-sanctions era, yet NIOC officials are doing their best to increase the volume as there are no disagreements regarding the issue," he said.
According to reports, the Mediterranean country imported more than 1 million barrels of oil and it byproducts such as naphtha and liquefied natural gas in 2015.
Furthermore, doubling its oil export to Turkey that is 230,000 bpd in 2015, Iraq has already gained 43% of the Mediterranean country's oil market share. However, Iran's share in the lucrative market is just 22%.
"Serious negotiations are also underway to have a threefold increase in oil export to Turkey," the official added, noting that plans have been made to raise Iran's share in Turkey's market to 50%. Qamsari believes that Iran's high quality crude compared to that of other competitors is definitely a bargaining chip to capture the world's oil market.
In fact, Iran has always been a reliable supplier for refiners all over the world even under the worst geopolitical circumstances.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has already announced that despite Iran's intense competition with Iraq and Saudi Arabia to enter Turkey's oil market, as soon as the new agreement is signed, oil export from Iran to Turkey will experience a remarkable surge.
