Greece to Settle Iran Oil Debt in 2 Years

Iran has reached an agreement with Greece to settle the latter's oil debts over two years, the deputy oil minister for international affairs said.

“Greece will repay its oil debt in installments over two years,” Amirhossein Zamaninia was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. He did not provide details.

Zamaninia added that the two sides held several rounds of negotiations in Tehran and Athens on the issue. Iran and Greece had set up a workgroup for facilitating the repayment process.

Stressing that Greece had resumed oil imports from Iran after the sanctions removal in January, the official noted, “Greece currently imports 60,000 barrels of crude per day from Iran.”

According to officials, the volume of exports could reach 150,000 barrels per day in the foreseeable future.

Zamaninia said there will be no further default in Greece's payments for Iranian crude imports as "NIOC receives cash for oil sales".

Debt-riddled Greece is said to owe Iran €900 million ($980 million) in oil payment dues.

Hellenic Petroleum S.A. repaid €100 million ($109 million) of the debt in its first payment in June.