TOKYO: Iran says Japan has welcomed a proposal to increase imports of Iranian oil to as high as 350,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Amir-Hossein Zamaniniya, Iran’s deputy petroleum minister for international and commercial affairs, has been quoted by the media as saying that the proposal was raised during meetings with a high-ranking Japanese trade delegation to Tehran.
“Japan is a very conservative country and its companies immediately left immediately after the implementation of sanctions against Iran,” Zamaniniya said. “Still, we are not after taking revenge on countries that left Iran during the period of sanctions. Rather, we are trying to move ahead … based on our national interests.”
The Japanese delegation that arrived in Tehran on this past Monday comprised representatives of 21 major companies. During their meetings with Iranian officials, they emphasized that more trips by trade delegations from Tokyo to Tehran are on agenda.
The latest official figures show that Japan’s imports of oil from Iran in July stood at 158,000 bpd. The figure is higher by 22 percent compared to the same period last year thus making Japan the leading client of Iranian oil.
Other traditional clients such as China (575,000 bpd) and India (215,000) had meager increases and South Korea (66,000 bpd) saw a major decline of 48.8 percent in importing Iranian oil in July. Iran’s overall exports to Japan, China, India and South Korea in July stood at 1.1 million bpd.
