An official at NIOC said Iran has begun crude sales to British companies as the first one-million-barrel shipment was delivered to British Petroleum.

Seyyed Mohsen Ghamsari touched upon resumption of oil exports to British firms in the post-JCPOA era saying “so far, two crude oil and gas condensate cargos have been sold to two companies in the UK.”

Executive director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) emphasized that the two cargos have been exported to Britain under single-shipment contracts; “negotiations are still in progress with companies like Shell or BP to ink long-term oil sale agreements.”

The official further stressed that a single cargo of gas condensate has been recently sold to BP asserting “under the spot contract, one million barrels of Iranian gas condensate were delivered to the British company.”

“Talks have also begun with Royal Dutch Shell Oil industry company over long-term sales of crude oil though no final agreement has been reached yet,” stated Ghamsari.

He recalled that mechanism and volume of oil sales within long-term deals are still being negotiated with Shell; “NIOC will continue negotiations with the British firm in order to finalize the contracts.”

In July, Shell imported 130,000 tons of Iranian crude from Kharg Island on 8 July to continental Europe with the destination being Rotterdam of the Netherlands.

Iran’s NIOC had earlier subjected new orders by Shell to clearing its debts for previous purchases and it was in April that the Iranian company confirmed clearance of the 2.8-billion-dollar debt by the Anglo-Dutch company.

Earlier this year, Ghamsari had maintained that Shell owns refineries or shares of refineries in various world countries adding “the possibility exists for Shell to transfer a portion of the purchased crude to Germany.”/MNA