Iran’s Crude Exports to Japan Rise by 25.8% in January, August: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s crude exports to Japan witnessed a 25.8 percent rise in January-August compared to the same period last year.
Japan's Iranian crude imports rose 25.8 percent to 216,101 bpd in January-August from the same period a year ago after the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions, data released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed, Reuters reported.
A senior official with Japan’s Showa Shell Sekiyu said the oil refiner purchased 55 percent of the country’s crude imports from Iran in January-June.
Chief Executive Officer Tsuyoshi Kameoka made the comment recently during a joint news conference with Idemitsu Kosan Co.
Iran sits on the world’s fourth-largest oil and second-largest gas reserves, and is among the world’s top 10 oil and top five natural gas producers.
Japan was one of the key clients of Iranian oil with 338,000 bpd of imports before the sanctions in 2012. During the years of sanctions, Japan continued to import crude from Iran, though at limited volumes, under a preliminary nuclear agreement.
The sanctions were lifted after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached an agreement on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16.
