Iran has made its first crude oil delivery to Europe since the lifting of the sanctions against the regime in Teheran, delivering 4mn tonnes to four European ports including the Romanian port of Constanta.

Iran plans to increase crude oil production after the sanctions against the country were lifted in January. The target is to increase exports to Europe by 1.5mn barrels per day this year, Iranian government official Hamid Baeidinejad announced on his Instagram page.

The recipients of the first delivery of Iranian oil are Lukoil, for the crude sent through Constanta, French company Total and the Spanish refinery Compania Espanola de Petroleosbdin, Reuters and Fars reported, quoted by local daily Bursa. Lukoil announced earlier this month that it wants to buy Iranian oil for its refineries in Romania, Bulgaria and Italy. The Russian oil company will pay for its crude with petroleum products, sources said.

Lukoil’s trading division, Litasco could ship 1mn tonnes of crude from Kharg Island terminal in Iran to Romania where it owns the Petrotel refinery, Reuters reported on February 1.

Lukoil's Petrotel refinery is the smallest of three refineries still in operation in Romania. The refinery has a capacity of below 3mn tonnes per year. The refinery’s overall importance to the Russian company is relatively low, particularly after Lukoil upgraded its Bulgarian refinery in Bourgas in 2014.