Kazemi said a regulatory framework will be drawn up in the near future for full control over fuel swap with a view to reducing fuel smuggling to a significant extent.

Iran started swapping oil and its products in the late 1990s, but the process was halted under the first tenure of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2004-2009).

The decision to halt the swap activities caused the Caspian Sea littoral states to choose other routes to deliver their oil products to international markets and also exacerbated oil products smuggling.

On May 18, 2013, National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) announced plans to increase swap volume for oil products by 30 percent in the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2013).

On October 30, 2013, Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Rokneddin Javadi said Iran plans to resume crude oil swap operations at a northern terminal in the near future.