Tehran, Iran, Oct. 8
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has rejected the rumors that Tehran has reached an agreement with Russia to export 500,000 barrels of oil to India and China to complete Moscow's deal with the two countries.
"We have no plan to do any oil swap with the mentioned countries," Zanaganeh said, Iran's ISNA News Agency reported on October 8.
Following the previously signed agreement between Russia and Iran, the two countries were supposed to swap oil, however the later reports came out indicating that Iran was to swap oil with India and China on behalf of Russia.
The Islamic Republic does seek to boost its oil swap with the neighboring countries, in particular, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
Iran swapped 210,000 tons of oil products in the Caspian Sea in the 12 month period, which ended on March 20, 2014.
Oil and oil product swap deals with neighboring countries were repeatedly suspended during the administration of Iran's ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013).
According to ISNA, Iran's oil swaps have been halted for over three years, because then oil minister believed it would turn Iran into an oil-importing country. It is while under the US-led sanctions against Iran's oil industry, oil swaps could play a vital role for Iran's economy.
Hassan Khosrojerdi, head of Iran Oil Products Exporters Union, said on April 18 that Iranian government is not in favor of oil swap at present because it is not economically justified.
Early in June, Mehr News Agency quoted former Director of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalebani as saying Iran currently has the capacity to swap 500,000 barrels of oil each day.
"The country also plans to swap one mill
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