Iran Posts Record Sales of LPG through Energy Bourse

A new record has been registered in the daily sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced in Iranian refineries and supplied through a local bourse mechanism, as reports recount that around 115 million liters of the fuel has been very recently sold in one single exchange.

A Monday report on the website of Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) said that the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) had pocketed more than $23 million trading one cargo of the LPG in the export ring of the exchange earlier in the day.

The cargo weighed 60,000 tons, said the IRIB News, adding that the volume was the highest recorded in the past three months for the NIORDC and its refineries.

CEO of the IRENEX Seyed Ali Hosseini said that the LPG trade recorded on Monday had been unprecedented.

He said that continued supply of refined products by the NIORDC through the local energy bourse showed that the mechanism had become a reliable and transparent system for exchange and pricing of energy in Iran.

Trading refined products through IRENEX has become popular since it was first launched in mid-summer. That is mainly because customers from neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Iraq see it as a safe method to avoid American sanctions that restrict dealing with Iran.

The surge in trade in the local bourse is also a sign that the downstream section of the oil and gas industry in Iran is experiencing a historic boom, especially at a time the country faces numerous hurdles in its direct sale of crude.

Iran has 600,000 barrels per day of surplus oil that can be turned into various refined products. Experts believe the Oil Ministry and its affiliated companies would become more involved in trade at IRENEX in the future as sanctions imposed by the US is making it more difficult for them to directly sell their products to foreign customers.

Late in February, the operator of South Pars Phase 13 development projects said new Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) units had come on-stream in the onshore refinery of the phase which have completed the production chain in the facility.

One of the main strategies that Iran chose to execute to help its oil exports afloat has been trying new ways to diversify the mechanism of oil and gas derivatives sales, one of which is offering crude and light oil besides gas condensate at the country’s stock market.

Supply of crude oil, gas condensates, LNG and LPG in Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) has been put atop agenda in line with realization of policies of resistance economy based on diversifying in the sale methods and use of high capacities and capabilities of the private sector for spurring exports and export activities.