TEHRAN: According to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the country imported 177,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Iran in November, showing three percent rise compared to the figure of the same month last year which stood at 171,000 bpd.
The country’s export of crude oil to Japan in November rose by 6 percent compared to its preceding month. In October, Japan had imported 166,000 bpd of oil from Iran. Iran provided Japan’s 5.2 percent of oil needs in November, ranking as Japan’s fifth top exporter of crude oil.
In October, Mohsen Qamsari, the director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said Iran plans to export 350,000 bpd of oil to Japan when the West-engineered sanctions are lifted against the Islamic Republic.
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.
