TEHRAN: Iran plans to export 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to Japan when the West-engineered sanctions are lifted against the Islamic Republic, according to Mohsen Qamsari, the director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
The official said Japanese refineries are willing to boost their oil imports from Iran.
Qamsari put Japan’s oil refining capacity at 3.5 million bpd and stated that Iran’s plan for the post-sanction time is to supply ten percent of the oil that Japanese refineries require.
He said Iran and Japan have had always proper oil relation; although the sanctions imposed on Iran have cut its oil exports to the Japanese refineries in the recent years.
Referring to the over forty years of Iran’s exports of oil to Japan, the official highlighted that cooperation between NIOC and Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Company dates back to more than 50 years ago.
In a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on October 12, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said his country is ready to expand its ties with Iran in different fields of energy.
Japan was one of the major buyers of Iran’s oil before the sanctions. The country imported 10 percent of its oil from Iran in 2000, but sanctions have cut that figure to roughly 5 percent in fiscal 2014. Japan hopes renewed talks will lead to increased oil imports.
Japanese companies, which had active presence in Iran’s petrochemical and oil projects before the sanctions were imposed on the country, have announced their readiness to resume activity in the Islamic Republic when the sanctions are removed.
Tokyo is seeking and emphasizing to boost investment in Iran following Tehran’s nuclear deal.
