Iran has reached agreements with European refiners to sell some of its oil through a private consortium, the Indian Express reported, citing an official.


The head of the oil products exporters’ union said the agreement between the exporters’ union, Iran’s central bank, and the oil ministry would get round a European Union ban on shipping insurance for tankers carrying Iranian oil, though he gave few details and did not name the refiners involved.


There have been discussions with European refiners, and a final agreement has even been reached, said Hassan Khosrojerdi, the exporters’ union head, according to Iran’s Mehr News Agency.


In accordance with the agreement, it is planned that 20 per cent of Iran’s oil exports will go through this private consortium.
He added: It is likely that because of international restrictions, we will give minor privileges or discounts to some of the buyers of our oil.


Khosrojerdi did not say which refiners were involved or how they would receive the oil. Asked what steps had been taken to circumvent the shipping insurance ban, he said that with the agreement with some of the European refiners, this problem has been solved completely.


The EU put into effect a ban on the importation, purchase, or shipping of Iranian oil on July 1, and the Islamic Republic will see its oil exports fall by more than 50 per cent this month from last year’s regular levels costing billions of dollars of revenue.