National Iranian Oil Company News

Panama's vessel registry, the world's largest, has withdrawn its flag from 136 ships linked to Iran's state oil company in the last four years, the country's maritime authority said this week, pushing back against claims by an anti-nuclear group.Shipments of Iranian crude hit all-time highs in the last two months of 2022 and had a strong start this year, according to flow tracking firms. Those gains come despite U.S. sanctions on companies it accuses of helping Iran export oil…

Tankers carrying about 1.22 million barrels of Iranian crude and 2 million barrels of condensate are scheduled to discharge at Venezuela's Jose terminal in the coming days, according to a document from state oil company PDVSA.Venezuela relies in Iran for a large portion of the diluents that PDVSA uses to convert its heavy oil to exportable grades. Iranian crude also is being refined in the South American country to produce motor fuels.One of the tankers that arrived this month in Venezuelan waters is the Iran-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Huge, operated by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), according to the document. Non-profit organization United Against Nuclear Iran and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com confirmed its identity.For the second cargo…

A 2.1 million barrel cargo of Iranian condensate arrived in Venezuela's waters this week, vessel tracking data and a company document showed, ferrying supplies to state-run oil firm PDVSA to dilute its extra heavy oil for export.U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela and Iran last year agreed to a contract for exchanging Iranian condensate, a very light form of oil, for Venezuelan heavy crude. The trade has proven key to sustaining PDVSA's production and expanding its exports.The Iranian-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Dan, operated by state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), entered Venezuelan Jose port's anchorage on Tuesday…

An Iranian supertanker carrying about 2 million barrels of condensate this week began discharging at Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA's main oil port, according to a company document and tanker tracking services.PDVSA and state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in the second half of last year started a swap deal to exchange Iranian condensate for PDVSA's heavy crude. The pact has proven to be key for sustaining Venezuela's oil output, which needs diluents including condensate for transportation and exports.Last year, the two state companies that are under U.S. sanctions exchanged some 4.82 million barrels of condensate for 5.55 million barrels of heavy crude, mostly transported in Iran-flagged vessels.

Iran could quickly export millions of barrels of oil it is holding in storage if it reaches a deal with the United States on its nuclear program and has been moving oil into place to prepare for an eventual restart, four traders and industrial sources said.The U.S. and Iran began in mid-June their sixth round of indirect talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal that former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018. Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, leading…

Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Iran has ramped up assistance to Venezuela since last year as the United States tightened sanctions on both countries, hitting oil exports by state-run firms Petroleos de Venezuela and National Iranian oil Company (NIOC).Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela, as well as equipment and spare parts to help the once-prosperous OPEC nation restart its…

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on companies based in China and the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of supporting the sale of Iranian petrochemicals as Washington increases pressure on Tehran in the closing days of President Donald Trump's term.The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it had blacklisted the four entities for facilitating the export of Iranian petrochemical products by Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd, which was hit with sanctions by…

A tanker chartered by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is loading Venezuelan crude for export, documents from state-run PDVSA show, providing evidence of the two countries’ latest tactics to expand their trade in defiance of U.S. sanctions.Venezuela and Iran have deepened their cooperation this year as Venezuela has exchanged gold and other commodities for Iranian food, condensate and fuel.Names of scrapped vessels are being used by several PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.) customers, including NIOC, to disguise the routes and identities of the tankers they use.A very large crude carrier (VLCC), identified in PDVSA’s loading documents as the Ndros…

The United States on Monday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it was slapping sanctions on key actors in Iran's oil sector for supporting the Quds Force, the elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."The regime in Iran uses the petroleum sector to fund the destabilizing activities of the IRGC-QF…

The first of a group of three tankers carrying Iranian fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela entered the waters of the South American nation on Monday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, in the most recent sign of the countries' expanding trade.The two OPEC members have increased cooperation this year by exchanging crude, fuel, food, equipment for refineries and other industrial goods. Many details about the transactions are not available, however.The Iran-flagged tanker Forest, transporting some 270,000 barrels of fuel loaded in the Middle East, entered Venezuela's exclusive economic zone around 8:05 a.m. local time (1205 GMT) without any disturbances…

Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, has successfully launched its first offshore pipeline integrity management system (PIMS) in the Iranian oil industry.According to IOOC, the system was launched in order to comply with international and national requirements for the standard, safe and continuous operation of the Salman Oilfield’s gas pipelines with a Norwegian company and the Pipeline Technology Company.The project is dubbed as the first of such projects in the Iranian offshore oil industry, said a report in Iran News.A Pipelines Management System (PMS) provides a clear process, with tasks and responsibilities…

European oil companies are not ruling out reducing Iranian oil imports after the threat of new U.S. sanctions, with some expecting banking issues to hinder trade, but there was no rush to immediately cut volumes.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States was exiting an international nuclear deal with Iran and would impose new sanctions that seek to reduce oil exports from OPEC's third-largest producer.But as of Friday, companies in Europe said they were still taking Iranian oil.

Iran oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said that the agreement signed with the Norwegian IFLNG company has already been annulled. A report in the Trend said that the  deal with Norwegian Hemla was  cancelled following the criticism by some Iranian MPs. The report quoted Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh saying that the deal is cancelled following the some criticism regarding the contract terms. In October 2017, Iran signed a contract with Norwegian oil and gas company to build the country’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit in the Persian Gulf. The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company Ali Kardor then said that the FLNG facility is a seaborne structure that would produce…

Russian oil producer Rosneft and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) have agreed an outline deal to work together on a number of “strategic” projects in Iran together worth up to $30 billion, Reuters reported quoting Rosneft’s head Igor Sechin as saying. The potential collaboration with Iran would further strengthen Rosneft’s position in the Middle East, the company having already secured a number of deals in the region, including the acquisition of a majority stake in Iraqi Kurdistan’s main oil pipeline. During the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Islamic Republic of Iran Rosneft Oil Company and National Iranian Oil Company signed the “Road Map and Key Terms of Strategic Cooperation in the Field of Oil and Gas”.

Belgium's Exmar is in negotiations for the use of its floating liquefied natural gas vessel Caribbean FLNG (CFLNG) for an Iranian export project, the company told Reuters on Thursday. The barge-based liquefaction facility, delivered to Exmar earlier this year, was initially destined to go to Colombia, but remains unemployed after its contract was terminated. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said in a statement on its website it would supply natural gas for the project, led by Norway's IFLNG, and that it expected to use the Caribbean FLNG vessel.

Two years after Iran pledged to open up its oil industry in anticipation of the lifting of sanctions, foreign companies say they still have little information about Iranian oil fields and contract terms, hindering investment decisions. Bosses from oil majors including BP, Total, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell and LUKOIL have all travelled to Tehran this year, since the EU sanctions ended in January. Their teams spent weeks meeting local officials ahead of investment tenders due to start next month. But several senior executives and members of their negotiating teams told Reuters they still had not been given sufficient information about the geology of Iranian fields or contract terms.

Iran's gasoline imports decreased from 12 million liters per day (ml/d) in the first half of current fiscal year to 4 ml/d currently, says Seyyed Mohsen Ghamsari, the director for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). “The current figure for gasoline imports stands at four million liters,” he highlighted, expecting further decline in imports of the oil product in the second half of the current year. Ghamsari said fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are also being shipped abroad with the figure for fuel oil being more than two million tons per month.

Iran has invited global energy giants to a tender for the development of several of its key oil sector projects. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) via an announcement has called on foreign exploration and production companies to submit the required pre-qualification documents for the tender as of Monday, 17 October 2016. It is stated in the statement published on NIOC’s website that the proposals should be submitted before 19 November 2016 and that the successful bidders will be announced on 7 December 2016. It is still not clear which projects will be put on tender. However, there have previously been reports that several promising targets – particularly some that Iran jointly shares with Iraq - are expected to be put up for the grabs.

Iran's crude oil exports in July were more than 2.1 million barrels per day, the oil ministry's news agency SHANA cited a senior Iranian oil official as saying on Wednesday. Director of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Ghamsari told SHANA the total amount of crude and gas condensate exports by Iran reached 2.740 million bpd in July. He said 600,000 bpd out of that figure were condensate exports. "Exports of crude are now at a good level but ... have not yet touched that of the pre-sanction level," he said, adding that Iran used to export 2.350 million barrels of crude per day before international sanctions were imposed.

South Korea, Asia's largest buyer of condensate, will step up purchases of the ultra light oil from Iran by more than 50 percent in June, two sources said, as competitive pricing squeezes out rival oil from Qatar. Expected June shipments of condensate from Iran may reach at least six million barrels, or 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), said the sources. This would be a record level of imports, four times that in January when sanctions on Tehran were lifted, according to data from Korea National Oil Corp. In contrast, condensate imports from Qatar in April have fallen to 5.32 million barrels, down 19 percent from January, KNOC data showed.

Iran has placed orders worth around $2.4 billion with South Korean shipyards for the construction of ships to carry Iran’s oil and petrochemical products, The Wall Street Journal says. The orders have been placed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the oil producer Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC). The Korean companies involved in the case are Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, which is a subsidiary of shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, as well as Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, a subsidiary of shipbuilding company Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, for as many as 10 petroleum-product tankers and at least six so-called handysize bulk carriers.

Iran has managed to sell only modest volumes of oil to Europe since the lifting of sanctions seven weeks ago and several former buyers are staying away, citing legal complications and Tehran's reluctance to sweeten terms to win back customers. Tehran had been unable to sell crude to European firms since 2012 when the EU imposed sanctions over its nuclear programme, depriving it of a market that accounted for over a third of its exports and leaving it relying completely on Asian buyers. Since the restrictions were lifted in January, Iran has sold four tankers - 4 million barrels - to Europe, including to France's Total, Spain's Cepsa and Russia's Litasco, according to Iranian officials and ship-tracking data.

South Korea plans to boost imports of Iranian oil, especially condensate, this year to meet growing demand after sanctions on the Islamic nation were lifted in January. The world's fifth largest importer of crude is also a big buyer of condensate, a super light oil that can be processed into fuels and petrochemicals. Iran's return would help ease tight condensate supply in a market dominated by fellow OPEC producer Qatar. "We will increase oil and natural gas (liquids) imports from Iran, especially Iranian condensate," South Korea's trade and energy ministry said on Tuesday. Iran is exporting 100,000 barrels of oil a day to South Korea, one of its main crude customers, and hopes to double that figure by the end of 2016, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Monday.