Turkey to extend oil deal with Iran

Turkey and Iran intend to renew their agreement on oil supplies, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said.He said the agreement ends in August 2013, adding that in March Turkey imported 114,000 barrels of oil from Iran and after renewing the agreement the supplies will remain unchanged.Yildiz also stressed that the Turkish oil refinery Tupras plans to increase oil imports from Libya from the current 7 million barrels per year to 10 million barrels of oil per year.Oil imports into Turkey in January 2013 decreased by 19 percent compared to the previous month, amounting to 1.23 million tons, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey (EPDK) said earlier.According to the report, oil imports in January 2013 decreased by 11 percent compared to the same month of 2012.