Azerbaijan is exporting up to 10,000 barrels a day of crude oil through Iran's Caspian port at Neka since last week after alternative routes were disrupted due to the conflict between Georgia and Russia, the oil ministry's official Shana Web site reported Saturday.
Azerbaijan began sending crude through Iran due to the suspension of Azeri oil shipments through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and by rail after a railway bridge in Georgia was destroyed earlier this month, Shana reported.
Iran is swapping increasing volumes of crude from central Asian countries for Iranian oil at the Kharg island terminal in the Persian Gulf, Shana cited Mousa Souri, managing director of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co., as saying.
Iran's oil swap deals have doubled to about 100,000 barrels a day from 50,000 barrels a day and are expected to rise to 200,000 barrels a day in coming years, Souri said, Shana reported.
Iran plans to establish crude oil terminals in the Persian Gulf as part of plans to increase energy security, Souri said, according to Shana.
Souri said the country's $3.5 billion Jask oil terminal, located offshore in the Gulf, is 10% complete and expected to be operational within three to five years, Shana reported.