IRENEX Trade Earns $100m in 1 Month

EghtesadOnline: Oil byproducts worth $100 million were traded in the international ring of the Iran Energy Exchange in the month to October 18.

News ID: ۷۵۱۳۲۰

22 October 2020

Gasoline was at the top of list with total trade value of $27.3 million, according to data from the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.

At $18.8m, kerosene was the next followed by fuel oil worth $15.1m. Diesel worth $11.5 million was traded at the IRENEX during the reviewed period. Solvent 402 and heavy hydrocarbon worth $5.3m and $4.8m were sold, respectively.

After the US under the acrimonious president, Donald Trump, walked away from the historic nuclear deal in May 2018 and vowed to drive Iran's oil exports to zero, the Tehran government has been doing all it can to counter the hostile US moves and export oil.

One such measure is the diversification of oil sale methods like offering oil and oil products in the Tehran share market.

IRENEX was given a mandate to offer crude oil in the autumn of 2018. Save for a few initial deals, the initiative has not helped.

State-owned National Iranian Oil Company offered crude oil at regular intervals in the last fiscal year (March 2019-20) but suspended trade as it could not find buyers.

New data show significant increase in the value of deals at IRENEX. A review for the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 20-July 21) showed trade grew by 540% on annualized basis to reach $295m.

Fuel trade at this exchange grew after it was officially announced that gasoline and oil gas production had far surpassed domestic demand and the nation had reached self-sufficiency in producing the key fuels that apparently have buyers overseas, particularly in the neighboring countries.