Emphasizing that increasing oil production and export is Iran’s key programme for the post-sanction era, the official stated that, “to this end, so far, modernization, upgrading, and overhaul of all facilities and infrastructure of oil terminals have been carried out”.

The meeting was aimed at exploring avenues to put into force the ratifications of the Joint Commission between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of South Africa, held in Tehran in May 2015.

Alongside with the talks on oil import resume, Iran and South Africa also discussed oil and gas sector cooperation once the global sanctions against Tehran are removed.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of plans to make investments worth billions of dollars in Iran, which include refinery and rail projects, nothing has taken off until now.

“Iranian crude has good quality, and its condensate is one we can utilise well”, Woo said.

“South Africa also wants to diversify its energy resources and in line with this goal we are interested to import LNG from Iran”.

However, Sasol eventually abandoned the scheme in 2006 as technicalities and outside pressures against it over its planned Iran investments mounted.

“South Africa plans to increase its crude oil refining capacity from current level of 300,000 barrels per day to 700,000 b/d”.

Iran, once the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), has been reduced to a near-pariah nation by western and UN sanctions and now needs external support to revive its flagging economy and its once buoyant hydrocarbon industry.

Iran expects to finalise the wording for a new model for worldwide oil contracts in the next three weeks, the oil minister said on Monday, as Tehran seeks to boost recovery from its fields with the help of foreign companies.

Source:- pppfocus.com