Eni's Iran contracts not covered by embargo

ROME/MILAN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Italian oil and gas group Eni is owed $1.4-1.5 billion in oil by Iran and has been assured its buyback contracts will not be part of the embargo on crude imports from the Islamic Republic, an Eni executive said on Wednesday.

The European Union agreed on Jan. 23 to ban Iranian oil imports, but the embargo will not be fully implemented until July 1, to avoid harming economies to whom Iran has been a major supplier.

EU states have given wide backing to a proposal to allow European entities to continue to receive repayments in oil for debts they are currently owed by Iranian firms.

"The payments Iran gives us for contracts we did in 2000 and 2001... will not be subject to the embargo: we have had confirmation from both the EU and the U.S.," Eni executive Leonardo Bellodi told journalists on the sidelines of a parliamentary hearing.

Eni has previously said it will not make any new investments in Iran and only intends to complete activities under buyback contracts.

Iran has been paying back Eni for decade-old deals in the country with oil for years. In December Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni said Eni was owed nearly $2 billion.

Eni's buyback contracts regard the Darquain and South Pars fields in Iran. Under the contracts Eni's investments in the fields are paid back in oil.

About 9,000 barrels per day of oil are withdrawn each day, Eni said in an emailed statement quoting comments made by its head of communication Gianni Di Giovanni on Wednesday.