Iranian oil officials on Wednesday held talks with senior representatives from Russia's Rosneft in Tehran, the Oil Ministry revealed on Thursday.
The two sides discussed swap deals for oil, gas and petroleum products. A joint committee was planned to be established to fast-track the swap agreements, the ministry was quoted as saying by ISNA.
The meeting did not get much publicity due to the low-profile visit of Rosneft delegation to the Iranian capital, despite the rising interest of Russian oil and gas companies over the past few months in Iran's energy sector on the prospect of lifting the sanctions against the Persian Gulf country.
In October, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh discussed developing Iran's oil and gas fields as well as swap deals in a meeting with Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran. The Russian minister was on a two-day trip to the Iranian capital at the head of a 40-strong Russian trade delegation to explore investment opportunities in post-sanctions Iran.
Earlier this month, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic said it is considering the possibility of transiting Russian gas to Iran, based on which Russia could deliver gas to Iran’s north and receive the same volume of gas or liquefied natural gas from Iran’s south through the swap deal.
Iran hopes to raise gas export to 150-300 million cubic meters per day by 2021.
