Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Amir Hossein Zamani Nia said Iran and Japan enjoy aged-old relations.

Touching upon Iran negotiations with Japanese companies on making investment in the Islamic Republic’s oil sector, he added Japan is keen on having an active presence in Iran’s oil industry during the post-sanctions era.

Zamani Nia underscored that the Japanese companies mull over making investment in different parts of Iran’s oil industry including petrochemicals, refineries and LNG sectors.

He underscored that the Japanese are currently evaluating the investment situation in Iran.

Commenting on the increase of Iran’s oil export to Japan, he said currently Tokyo has some limitations for utilizing crude oil and is trying to purchase Iran’s gas condensates.

On July 16, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that Iran’s crude oil exports to Japan surged 61% in May from a year earlier.

Japan was one of the key clients of Iranian oil with 338,000 bpd of imports before Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic in 2012.

During years of the sanctions, the Asian country continued to import crude from Iran, though at limited volumes, under a preliminary nuclear agreement.

Iran hosted several leading Japanese companies in its oil and gas projects before the sanctions were imposed.

After the removal of sanctions, Asian imports of Iranian oil have risen sharply. Iran’s oil flows to Europe have also begun to pick up after a slow start.