Iran said it will begin selling 100,000 barrels of oil a day to Russia within the next 15 days and receive payment half in cash and half in goods and services, Iranian news media reported on February 21.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh provided details about the deal after meeting Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak in Tehran, according Press TV and the Iranian Students' News Agency.
“Of course, we were ready to sign the contract tonight but our Russian counterpart was in a hurry and had to go to the airport,” Zanganeh said. He added that a number of Russian companies have already signed memorandums of understanding with Iranian companies.
"We discussed swap deals. Oil for goods," Zanganeh said. Iran is hampered in selling oil to other nations because nearly all oil transactions worldwide are conducted in dollars while U.S. sanctions limit Iran's access to dollars.
For that reason Tehran has sought at times to barter its oil for other goods.
Zanganeh said that Russia will be cooperating with an OPEC decision last November to cut production levels and will be reducing its oil output by 300,000 barrels per day.