Iran seeks to restructure pipeline systems in Neka oil terminal in time for final negotiations with Russia on the sales of 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, a report said.

Iran and Russia reached agreement in December to finalize an oil export deal worth 100,000 barrels per day, Iran Daily reported, citing hellenicshippingnews.com.

As per the agreement, Iran will receive a payment for 50,000 barrels in cash while the remaining 50,000 will be paid for in the form of technical and engineering services, the report said.

Meanwhile, one predicament in the implementation of the historical contract between Iran and Russia is the technical and operational feasibility of transferring oil from southern to northern Iran through changes in oil transmission network.

The Neka-Tehran pipeline currently has a transmission capacity of 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day, Dariush Amir Sardari, director of the Pipelines Affairs at the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunications Company (IOPTC) was quoted as saying in the report.

He noted that in case a final contract is signed with Russia, the oil transmission direction can be reversed "given the oil swap agreement among Caspian Sea littoral states". He added that oil can even be transferred from southern to northern Iran for export.

The Neka-Tehran oil pipeline will be completed in a short time and reversing the transmission direction requires a number of technical modification in certain oil transference centres along the route, the official explained.