Iran to Sell Oil in Euros

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By Jacob Maslow

Iran has requested payment in Euros for new and outstanding oil contracts, a source in state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. has reported.

Wishing to reduce its dependence on the USD after last month’s sanctions relief, Iran has asked that tens of billions owed by India and other nations for oil delivered before sanctions were put in place be paid in Euros rather than greenbacks.

Iran has recently signed new oil contracts with European firms like Total (French), Cepsa (Spanish) and Lukoil (Russian). None of the three wished to comment on the matter.

While Iran has requested that trading partners who owe it money pay in Euros, it has also accepted payment in some other currencies including the Omani Rial and UAE Dhiram.

Oil traders claim that the move makes sense since Europe is now officially one of Iran’s biggest trading partners.

This isn’t the first time Iran has appealed for international oil trade to be conducted in Euros. In 2007, Iran attempted to convince OPEC that accepting Euros was the better deal, and then president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labelled the USD a “worthless piece of paper”.

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