Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros too, Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh has said.
The Islamic Republic’s move comes as it is looking to reduce its dependence on the US dollar following sanctions relief in January.
In February, a source at the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told Reuters that Iran would charge in euros for its recently signed oil contracts with firms including French oil and gas major Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco, the trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil.
Iran has also told its trading partners who owe it billions of dollars that it wants to be paid in euros rather than US dollars, said the person, who has direct knowledge of the matter.
The NIOC source said Iran’s central bank instituted a policy while the Islamic Republic was under sanctions, over its nuclear programme, to carry out foreign trade in euros.
Iran shifted to the euro and cancelled trade in dollars because of political reasons.
