DUBAI/SINGAPORE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Iran has secured a deal to export about 19,000 barrels per day (bpd) of diesel to Iraq this year, industry sources said on Monday.
The deal demonstrates Iran is confident it can not only sidestep the threat of U.S. sanctions against its fuel suppliers, but can even act as a trader itself by selling fuel to its neighbour.
The contract would begin in January, sources said, unseasonal for Iranian diesel exports. The Islamic Republic's exports are typically during the period of slower domestic power demand from April through the summer. The deal would run through the rest of the year, the sources added.
"We have a long term contract (with Iraq)...this is over and above our exports during the spring season which stays within the Persian Gulf," a source familiar with the deal said, declining to provide more details.
Traders said the deal could be worth anything between $500 million and $600 million. (Reporting by Luke Pachymuthu and Jennifer Tan and Yaw Yanchong in Singapore; editing by Anthony Barker)