Iran and Russia are likely to sign crude oil swap deals in a move to boost cooperation, Tehran Times daily reported on Thursday.

Iran has been holding talks with Russia on swapping crude oil for a long time, and the Iranian Oil Ministry may finally sign oil swap contracts with Russia, according to the report.

Earlier this month, Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company, said that Iran is in talks with the Caspian Sea littoral states to raise the volume of crude oil swaps with its northern neighbors.

Iran plans to develop the coastal infrastructure at its northern port city of Neka, situated about 200 km north of Tehran, to boost its oil swap capacity.

The Islamic republic has started the development of the offshore pool at the Neka oil terminal to meet the needs of merchant shipping fleets and increase the oil reception capacity of the terminal.

Currently, Iran imports oil from central Asian countries, which is refined at oil refineries in Iran's Tehran and Tabriz cities, and then delivers an equivalent amount of oil from the Persian Gulf to buyers.