Belarus interested in buying more oil from Iran oil as it cuts reliance on Russia

Belarus is interested in raising crude oil purchases from Iran, Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Tuesday after meeting Belarusian Industry Minister Vitaly Vovk in Tehran.

Zangeneh said Belarus has already received 2 million barrels of oil in two cargoes from Iran which is looking for new customers in line with its bid to win back market share.

“Belarus wants to buy more oil from Iran, with more talks in this regard being held with the international affairs department of the National Iranian Oil Company,” he said.

Zangeneh touched on Belarus’s interest in expanding upstream cooperation with Iran in the energy sector. He said Vovk was visiting Iran to discuss the formation of a joint economic commission.

Separately, First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri told Vovk that Iran was ready to meet Belarus’s demand for oil. Jahangiri also welcomed investment by Belarusian companies in Iran’s oil industry even as he stressed the need for the two countries to work out a mechanism for financial transactions.

For his part, Vovk underlined his country’s willingness to broaden relations with Iran in various industrial and scientific fields, saying his visit was aimed at charting out a roadmap for expansion of ties.

Belarusian oil company Bel Oil first lifted 600,000 barrels of light and heavy crude oil from Iran last February. The purchase came as Minsk looked for alternative crude oil supplies after Russia cut exports to the country in 2016 over a gas price row between the two countries.

Poland has also turned increasingly to Iran to replace Russia as its key oil supplier. Lotos became the first Polish oil refiner to ship 2 million barrels of Iranian oil in a one-off purchase last August before looking to a long-term contract.

Iran ships about 40 percent of its oil to Europe, regaining its lost ground in the continent which totally halted trade with the Islamic Republic after intensifying sanctions on the country in 2011.

Last November, US President Donald Trump called for a boycott of Iran’s oil. He said because there was enough supply of oil from other countries, it was possible to limit the purchase of oil and its derivatives from the Islamic Republic.

Zangeneh warned at the time that a possible boycott would seriously affect the oil market.

“Iran's oil supply to the market is up to 2.5 million barrels a day, and the removal of this amount would definitely affect the market,” he said.

Iran is to dominate many of US Secretary State Rex Tillerson’s talks in Europe this week when visiting London, Paris, Warsaw and Davos, a senior US State Department official said on Friday.

Tillerson met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Tuesday to discuss Iran, Syria and other issues.

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