Reuters’ ship tracking data showed the Negra Hipolita, managed by state oil firm PDVSA, left Venezuela at the start of May and arrived at the Syrian port of Banias on Monday.

Allaw revealed the country’s oil industry has lost around $4 billon because of EU and US sanctions on imports since September. European countries used to buy some 90% of the country’s oil exports, according to Arabiangazette.

The Sanctions on President Bashar Al Assad’s government are in response to the bloody crackdown on an uprising which,  has claimed more than 9,000 lives, UN says.

The minister said domestic production of diesel covered around 50% of the country’s needs and and that negotiations are underway to import gas from Iran and Algeria in order to compensate for gas shortage.

A joint Russia-Syrian committee is also looking at the possibility of concluding a long-term contract with Russia to supply fuel and cooking gas, Allaw told State TV SANA.

He added the government has imported oil by USD 3,5 billion since the beginning of the crisis, including more than 2 million tons of diesel and 450.000 tons of gas, pointing out that no oil or gas tankers have arrived in Syria since last April.

Allaw said that “there is no shortage in funding but the problem remains in preventing tankers from arriving to Syria by those who imposed sanctions on the Syrian people, adding that oil derivatives needed to operate electricity generation plants are available in large amounts.”

“Definitely, the progress of talks will have a positive impact on negotiations between Iran and P5+1,” Amano said. His visit to Tehran came ahead of wider negotiations at a meeting in Baghdad between six world powers and Iran on Wednesday.

Amano’s one day visit which was the first since becoming the IAEA chief in 2009 focuses on getting Iran to agree to terms that will allow IAEA probes of suspect Iranian sites, including the Parchin military complex where the agency had reported suspicious activities in the past,  AP reported.

Iran has refuted such claims by Western nations that it is developing  nuclear weapons. It has repeadetly refused to provide the IAEA access to relevant sites, officials and documents for over four years.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran, Washington Post reports.

“Today the U.S. Senate put Iranian leaders on notice that they must halt all uranium enrichment activities or face another round of economic sanctions from the United States,” said Republican Senator Mark Kirk, in a statement.