Tehran will extend an oil export agreement with Japan until April 2016, Iran's oil ministry news agency SShana reported citing sources. Japan will also boost its oil purchases from Iran from the current 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) under a new deal, Shaha reported on Saturday citing sources close to the Iran's oil ministry. It did not give any more details.
Japan is one of Iran's biggest oil buyers but its crude imports have nearly halved from 2011 levels before sanctions.
Iran emerged from years of economic isolation when the US and other countries lifted crippling sanctions against the Islamic republic this month.
Iran has asked Japanese buyers to increase term crude volumes to levels before stricter sanctions were imposed in 2012, industry sources said, but some buyers have been reluctant to do this and were looking at buying Iranian barrels on the spot market instead.
Japanese buyers of Iranian crude will have to keep using special sovereign shipping insurance to import oil for the foreseeable future, despite the lifting of sanctions, industry and government sources told Reuters last week.