“Due to the policy of reducing the European share of Iranian oil exports in recent months, the volume of oil imports by the European countries has now reached a level that new substitutes can be easily found for them,” said Deputy Oil Minister and Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ahmad Qalebani on Sunday.
Qalebani went on to say that in 2011, Iran exported 500,000 barrels per day to the EU member states adding, however, following the Oil Ministry's plan the amount of daily crude exports to the bloc dropped to 200,000 to 300,000 barrels.
The NIOC managing director argued that the reduction is small, compared to Iran’s total crude exports of two million barrels per day.
Qalebani expressed confidence that the implementation of the EU oil embargoes poses no challenge to Tehran.
On January 23, under pressure from the United States, the European Union foreign ministers approved new sanctions mainly against Tehran’s oil and banking sectors. The sanctions come into force on Sunday.
Later in March, the US administration approved new embargoes on Iranian crude, which aim to penalize other countries for buying or selling the Iranian oil. The sanctions took effect on June 28.
The bans by the US and EU aim to put pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program, which Washington, Israel and some of their allies claim includes a military aspect.
Iran dismisses such allegations, arguing that, as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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Iran's deputy Oil Minister says Tehran can easily find new substitutes for European Union (EU) customers of Iranian crude, as the bloc’s oil embargo against the Islamic republic starts to take effect.
News ID 182045
