The chief executive of Poland's second biggest oil refiner Lotos said the company is interested in refining Iranian oil as part of efforts to diversify away from Russian crude.
"We are interested in refining any oil, including Iran's and Saudi Arabia's crude," CEO Pawel Olechnowicz told reporters. "Diversification allows for greater safety of the company", Trade Arabia reported.
Last week, the head of Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft said Saudi Arabia had started supplying crude oil to Poland, a market traditionally dominated by Russia.
Last month, Iran and Poland started talks over crude oil, natural gas and liquefied natural trade.
The talks started when Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechocinski visited Tehran with a delegation of 150 business officials and investors.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the first step toward a new chapter of relations between the two countries was signing a crude oil trade contract.
He added that the two sides also arranged for LNG export to Poland, adding that the country has some good terminals for LNG imports.
Zanganeh also said the Polish representatives had expressed willingness to cooperate in Iran's petrochemical sector.
Iran plans to produce 3.8 million to 3.9 million barrels of oil a day by March, with output rising by 500,000 barrels a day soon after sanctions are lifted and by 1 million barrels within the following five months.
An Iranian Oil Ministry official has declared that the Islamic Republic will reach the 500,000-bpd milestone by late November or early December even before most western sanctions are lifted.
