Iran plans to export oil products to African nations: Deputy oil minister

Iran plans expand trade ties with African and Latin American countries and boosts its exports of oil products, according to a senior official at Iran’s Oil Ministry.

The Iranian deputy oil minister, Ahmad Assadzadeh, made the remarks on Monday and put the total value of annual imports of oil products by African countries at $100 billion.

If just 10 percent of this lucrative market is allocated to Iran, the country would export $10 billion worth of oil products to African states, he underlined.

Turning to the measures taken by the Oil Ministry for having a presence in the African and Latin American markets, he said that African countries enjoy a high capacity for bolstering cooperation in the energy field.

Assadzadeh put the oil refining capacity of Africa at about 3 to 4 million barrels per day, half of which is inactive, adding that suitable ways have been paved for Iran to export technical and engineering services to these countries.

Iran exported between $600 and $800 million worth of products to these African countries in the past few years, he said, adding, “With the effective measures taken in this regard, the value of Iran’s trade with this continent has surpassed $1 billion in recent years, showing a considerable hike.”

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