Italy's Saras Already Contacted by Iran to Set Up Contracts

Italian refiner Saras has already been contacted by Iran to set up contracts so that it is ready to restart offloading Iranian oil once sanctions on the country have been lifted, Saras general manager said on Thursday.

"Iran will be back on stream by the end of the year," Dario Scaffardi said in a conference call.

Scaffardi said Iran could bring 1 million barrels of crude per day onto the market overnight when sanctions were lifted.

He added it would be able to add another 0.5-1.0 million barrels per day fairly quickly.

"Don't underestimate Iran... they will be able to ramp up production quickly and efficiently".

Iran used to account for a sizable part of Saras crude feedstocks before the U.S-led embargo was imposed.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes)