Bijan Namdar Zanganeh received a Japanese delegation led by Mr. Katsuyuki Kawai, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the new round of ‘oil talks’ in Tehran on Monday.
“We want to see that Japanese companies working with the government to improve their buying of oil to levels before sanctions had hit Iran’s oil sector,” Mr. Zanganeh said in the meeting. “With removal of sanctions, now both countries resume the accelerated pace of relations. We could have strategic relations in energy and other sectors as well,” he added.
Zanganeh believed that Iran’s export of crude oil comprised the most important item in bilateral economic relations; “with sanctions in place, the predicted level of cooperation was not achieved; however, we could work on refining oil, LNG, and joint investments in Iran’s oil and gas projects. I believe Japanese companies have great opportunities before them to use,” Zanganeh said.
Oil minister predicted that Mr. Shizo Abe would pay a visit to Iran soon and the visit by his special adviser sought to prepare the necessary arrangements for that meeting. On December 2015 and while sanctions were still in effect, Iran’s oil exports to Japan surpassed those of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Russia, and Kuwait. UAE and Kuwait have seen a negative growth rate in their exports of oil to Japan. Saudi Arabia has seen a growth as modest as 5 per cent as well, which in comparison, Iran’s 34 percent growth rate dwarfs growth figures of its rivals in the region. Japan’s ministry of economy, trade, and industry figures also confirms the decline in last December. “Iran exported 175,000 barrels of crude to Japan in the same period (since December),” said the report.
Still in a related story, Iran’s banking sector would also enjoy post-sanctions openings in cooperation with Japan’s largest bank Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which could contribute positively to oil exports to Japan in the upcoming months.
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