Azernews.Az

Iran will never have difficulty selling its crude oil, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said, Fars news agency reported.

"Iran is selling oil continuously and so far has managed to receive revenues without any great difficulty," Araqchi said, adding that Iran is gradually shifting its economic focus from Europe to Asia.

"Oil is a valuable, high-demand global commodity, therefore, Iranian oil would not remain unsold. If some countries reduce their purchase, we have other customers willing to increase their imports," Araqchi stated.

He named China, India, South Korea and Japan as the major buyers of Iranian oil.

In July, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that although the West has imposed sanctions on Iran's oil sector with the goal of toppling the Islamic establishment, the country's oil exports will never be halted because oil consuming countries need Iranian crude.

"There are many ways to easily sell oil, one of which is to take advantage of businessmen and the private sector," Qasemi said.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors with the goal of cutting Iranian oil export volume and curbing Iran's Central Bank access to international banking system.

U.S. sanctions entered into force on June 28, while EU bans on Iranian oil imports came into force on July 1.

Iran's oil export declined from 2.3 mbpd in 2011 to 2 mbpd in the first quarter of 2012, to 1.5 mbpd in the second quarter and below 1 mbpd in the third quarter of this year.

The country's oil crude export has increased to 1.2 mbpd in September due to resumption of Iranian oil purchase by Turkey and South Korea.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Iran loses $5 bln per month because of cuts in the oil export volume.

Oil provides about 50 percent of Iranian government's revenues. Regarding the country's exports, about 80 percent of it consists of oil exports.

According to OPEC statistics, Iran gained $110 bln from oil export in 2011.