TEHRAN ( WNAM MONITORING ): A report shows Iran may start importing sizable amounts of oil from Azerbaijan as part of efforts to strengthen economic and political relations with its northern neighbor.
The Monday report by Fars news agency said that Iran can import up to 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Azerbaijan and process it in a large refinery in Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azarbaijan province.
“This can help reduce the costs of transporting oil from southern Iran to Tabriz refinery, which amount to tens of millions of dollars per year,” said the report.
It said the purchase can help Iran replace the Israeli regime as a major customer of Azerbaijani oil, adding that the regime is currently responsible for nearly 20% of Azerbaijan’s total oil exports.
The report said that Iran’s oil imports from Azerbaijan can seriously elevate the level of economic relations between the two countries.
The report came as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, for a state visit that many experts have described as a sign of warming relations between the two neighbors.
Pezeshkian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and their accompanying delegations signed seven cooperation documents on Monday, including a major agreement to strengthen transportation cooperation between the two countries.
The report by Fars said that the completion of a transport corridor that passes through Iran and connects Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan would also help boost relations between Tehran and Baku.
It said the Aras railway corridor would replace the so-called Zangezur corridor, which Azerbaijan was once seeking to establish through the Armenian territory, adding that the route will also increase transport options on the International North–South Transport Corridor, which connects several regional countries through Iran and Azerbaijan.
