TEHRAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran will offer three million barrels of crude oil to the private sector in the stock market for exports, Iranian Petroleum Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, said here on Wednesday.
"Required license for the sales of three million barrels of crude oil in the stock market has been received from the Iranian authorities," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.
An announcement will be released in this regard soon, he said, adding that the customers for the crude in the stock market can file their requests either in the Iranian currency rial or in the foreign currencies.
The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has sold 980,000 barrels of crude oil in two intervals in the Iranian stock market since Nov. 5, 2018 when the U.S. administration reimposed sanctions on the oil exports of the Islamic republic.
The previous buyers of the oil in the stock market have been able to export their purchases and they have had no problem in this regard, Zanganeh said.
Iran said that the move to offer oil to private sector for exports is, on one hand, aimed to counter U.S. sanctions on Iran's energy sector, and, on the other, to empower domestic manufacturers and allow bigger role for private enterprises.
The U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the Iranian international nuclear deal in May and reimposed sanctions on Iran's financial, automotive, aviation and metal sectors.
He also set deadline for international oil buyers to stop all their oil purchases from Iran, otherwise they will face U.S. punishment.
