Iran-Russia oil-for-goods barter deal seems unviable: official

The oil-for-goods barter deal between Iran and Russia seems to be impractical since Russia has not been able to market Iran's crude oil, an Iranian oil official was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

The problem of the agreement with Russia lies in the fact that they might be unable to sell Iran's crude oil, the international director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Qamsari said.

Iran has not sent any crude cargo to Russia, he said, adding that "Russia should first market Iran's oil so that Iran would provide it with its crude."

According to media reports released on April 14, Russian officials confirmed the deal was being implemented. However, the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh declined to confirm the reports.

"The barter deal with Russia has not been signed," Zangeneh told official IRNA news agency on April 14, adding that "there are some cooperation between Iran and Russia, but it dose not mean barter deal."

In January 2014, western media reported that Iran and Russia were discussing "oil-for-goods swap worth 1.5 billion U.S. dollars a month," which might help Iran to raise its oil exports by 50 percent to bypass western sanctions.

The barter negotiations would involve Russia's imports of some 500,000 barrels of Iran's oil a day in exchange for the exports of Russia's goods, the reports said. Endit