Enthusiastic buyers purchased the entire 5000 tons of Iranian octane 95 gasoline offered on the Iran Energy Exchange on Sunday, according to data available on the IRENEX online bulletin board.
The offer was made by state-owned National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company in the IRENEX international ring.
Buyers were required to purchase minimum 100 tons of high octane gasoline at the base price of $630 per ton. Sunday’s deal was valued at 375 billion rials ($3 million).
According to Moj News, the cargo was destined for Afghanistan, Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Armenia.
The offer was welcomed by buyers as they placed orders for 15,000 tons of gasoline when only 5,000 tons was on offer.
Although buyers intensely approached the high octane fuel, there was little, if any, interest in 10,000 tons of octane 91 gasoline offered on the same day, and the trading session ended without a deal.
As per trading terms stipulated by the Iran Energy Exchange, buyers can settle payments in two ways, namely paying the Central Securities Depository of Iran and direct payment to the seller outside of the capital market clearing house.
They can pay either in rials or in foreign currency subject to the seller’s needs.
2 Options
Head of the energy commission of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Reza Padidar said at the weekend that due to the new US sanctions against the banking sector, payments could be settled via barter trade or using local currencies.
Padidar said form among Iran’s 15 neighbors nine are interested in buying fuel, mainly due to high quality and competitive prices.
The gasoline sale initiative started Wednesday when for the first time in the history of Iran’s oil industry NIORDC sold 3,000 tons of octane 91 gasoline to Afghan buyers via the energy market.
Iran was a gasoline importer for almost four decades because local refiners could not meet growing demand.
Now officials say the country is self-reliant in producing gasoline and in position to start export, especially to neighbors.
According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran is producing 15 million liters of gasoline more than domestic need, and the surplus is stored.
Daily gasoline output increased from 52 million liters in 2012 to 107 million liters this June -- a figure projected to reach 110 million liters per day by the end of this month.
