Iran’s Kish International Oil Bourse Completes First Oil Transaction

Iran's Kish Island International Oil Bourse (IOB), which opened last month, has completed its first oil transaction after its official opening earlier this month. The IOB, the Persian Gulf region's first indigenous oil bourse sold an offering of 500,000 barrels at $105.49 per barrel,

The purchase was made in euros and dirhams overseas accounts under the supervision of the National Iranian Oil Company. Unlike transactions on New York's NYMEX and London's ICE exchanges, which exclusively use U.S. dollars, Iran's Hamsayeh.Net reported.

Mohammad Reza Khajenasiri, the chief supervisor of bourses and markets in Iran's Bourse Organization, said that the crude oil consignment went smoothly and that the shipment was traded "without any discount or additional premium."
 
Singapore's Energy Studies Institute Energy Security Division head Hooman Peimani said, "The international sanctions make trades with Iran expensive, cause problems with payments and complicate deals, threatening further U.S. sanctions."

While the current volume of trades at Iran's IOB are dwarfed by the daily transactions carried out at NYMEX and ICE, Washington and its allies view establishment of the Kish Oil Bourse as a potential danger to the West's effective monopoly in energy trading as well as the Western financial establishment, given that transactions are accepted in any currency except Dollars.

By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com