National Iranian Oil Company will put on sale one million barrels of crude on the country’s energy exchange on Monday in the fourth round of oil sales on the stock market.
The sale will start at 14:30 local time with each barrel seeing a $4 rise to be sold at $56.24, according to a statement released by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
The barrels will be offered at the international ring of the Energy Exchange (IRENEX).
This time, NIOC has released the sale statement in English in a bid to lure potential foreign buyers.
A screenshot of NIOC English statement about the fourth round of oil sales on IRENEX
The bulks will be delivered between 6 March and 5 April at Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, the statement announces.
Iranian media are reporting future statements could be also released in other languages such as Russian or Chinese, as the two Asian countries are major Iranian crude buyers in the world. However, it’s not likely to happen, according to people familiar with the matter.
Like the previous round (21 January), clients can pay the amount in both foreign exchange, such as dollar or euro, as well as national Iranian currency rial. Also payment clearance period has also risen to 3 months from the original 2 months.
National Iranian Oil Company failed to sell any barrels on the previous round when it offered one million barrels when the prices were lower ($52.42).
Tehran sold 280,000 barrels of crude oil out of 1 million barrels on offer through the country's domestic bourse 28 October for the price of $74.85 per barrel. The second round sold 700,000 barrels at $64.97 on November 11.
Selling the country's vital crude on domestic stocks exchange is part of Iran's strategy to circumvent unilateral US sanctions that have targetted oil and banking sectors.
Iraq, India, China, South Korea and Japan as well as three other countries have been given US sanctions waivers to keep buying Iran oil. They have been importing the crude in lower quantities. Recently, Japan resumed Iran oil purchase.