EXCLUSIVE Iran resumes fuel exports to neighboring Afghanistan

LONDON, Aug. 23 (Reuters) – Iran resumed fuel exports to Afghanistan a few days ago following a request from the new Afghan government, which feels empowered by the US withdrawal from buying oil from the nation more openly sanctioned, an Iranian official told Reuters.

The Sunni Muslim group took power in Afghanistan last week as the United States and its allies withdrew troops after a 20-year war.

The price of gasoline in Afghanistan reached $ 900 per tonne, as many Afghans were expelled from the cities, for fear of reprisals and a return to a harsh version of Islamic law that the Taliban imposed when it was in the power two decades ago.

To counter the rise in prices, the new Taliban called on Shiite Iran to keep its borders open to traders.

The Taliban sent messages to Iran saying “you can continue to export petroleum products,” Hamid Hosseini, a board member and spokesman for the Iranian Union of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters Union, told Reuters. in Tehran.

The Taliban sent messages to Iranian traders and to an Iranian chamber of commerce, which has close ties to the government.

As a result, the Customs Administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRICA), which is part of the government, lifted the ban on exporting fuel to Afghanistan, which has existed since August 6 due to of Iran’s concerns about trade security. in the country.

These concerns have been alleviated by the attitude of the Taliban, Hosseini said.

He also cited the Taliban’s decision to reduce tariffs on fuel imports from Iran and other neighboring countries and shared with Reuters an official document issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name given to the Taliban. they refer to themselves.

The document specified a 70% discount on tariffs on gasoline, diesel and LPG imports from neighboring countries to Afghanistan.

IRAN-TALIBAN COOPERATION

Iran sits in the world’s fourth-largest oil reserve, but the latest round of U.S. sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 has significantly reduced Iranian oil exports.

However, Iran has managed some trade, mostly by transporting fuel to neighbors such as Afghanistan, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops has made the leaders of Iran and Afghanistan less nervous to deal more openly, Hosseini said.

Iran’s main exports to Afghanistan are gasoline and diesel. Iran exported about 400,000 tons of fuel to its neighbor from May 2020 to May 2021, according to a report released by PetroView, an Iranian oil and gas research and consulting platform.

Iranian fuel flows have been vital to Afghanistan in recent years, according to traders and a report by the Afghan government, seen by Reuters.

Between March 2020 and March 2021, Iran accounted for $ 367 million in imports, mostly of fuel, according to the report compiled by the finance ministry, chambers of commerce and private enterprise data.

The next two largest oil suppliers are Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with trade, mainly oil, valued at $ 257 and $ 236 million respectively.

A source with direct knowledge of the issue, who asked not to be named, said more than a million tonnes a year, or more than 20,000 barrels a day, of Iranian fuel go to Afghanistan.

EXPANSION OF COOPERATION?

Iran’s main fuel destinations have been eastern provinces near the Iranian border and southern regions such as Kandahar and Nimrooz, where the Taliban had a strong influence even before the push in recent weeks, he said. Hosseini.

“I think the new Iranian government will significantly expand cooperation with the Taliban government. Iran can easily double its trade with Afghanistan. The (Ashraf) Ghani government has always tried to limit cooperation with Iran since the “Iran was under US sanctions,” Hosseini said. .

Afghanistan has not developed its own oil industry. The country has six mini-refineries that only produce several thousand barrels a day of refined products each.

Running on light oil from Turkmenistan, the two refineries also directly supply diesel and aircraft fuel.

Uzbekistan’s two main refineries also supply refined products by rail and truck.

The source with direct knowledge said that the supply of Turkmen condensate (light crude oil) ceased a month ago due to the security situation, but predicted that it would resume in about two weeks.

“The problem is that the banks stopped working three days ago, so we could have cash bags again,” the source said.

Reports of Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Julia Payne in London; Edited by Edmund Blair and Barbara Lewis

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.