Iran resumes petrochemical sales to EU states: Official

A senior Iranian energy official says European countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece have resumed imports of petrochemical products from Iran.

Hassan Khosrojerdi, the head of the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union, said on Saturday that Iran witnessed a growth in the export of petrochemical products during the last Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014.

He said Iran’s petrochemical exports rose by about one percent from USD 10.165 billion to USD 10.723 billion last year, adding that Iran’s main customers were Asian, African and Eastern European countries.

The official added that customers from Italy, Spain and Greece have recently resumed import of petrochemical products from Iran.

In terms of non-oil exports, Iran exported about USD 3.538 billion of various products last year, which was almost three percent higher than the year before, Khosrojerdi added.

According to the official, Iran’s gas condensate exports also witnessed a 15-percent growth last year compared to the previous year.

Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports have increased following some sanctions relief on the Islamic Republic, including the EU and U.S. bans on the country’s petrochemical exports.

The ban ease is part of an agreement inked in Geneva last November between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the U.S., France, Britain, Russia, and China - plus Germany, under which the six countries agreed to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.

The Geneva deal took effect on January 20.