Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran has said Asian countries will remain the country's major oil buyers even if sanctions are lifted.

Rokneddin Javadi, Iran’s deputy petroleum minister noted that even after sanctions are removed the Asian market will still stand as a priority, Shana news agency reported.

Javadi, who is also the managing-director of National Iranian Oil Company, said China, Japan, South Korea and India have remained buyers of Iran’s oil despite “unjust” sanctions slapped on the country.

He added that before the sanctions were imposed, Asian countries were the leading consumers of Iran’s oil.

China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea continue to buy oil from Iran after Europe stopped all imports under intensified sanctions.

Javadi stressed that Iran will able to “regain its position in the Asian market” after sanctions are annulled.

He also noted that efforts will be made to pay attention to traditional customers in Europe as well.

Europeans hope to resume trade once ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran bear fruit.

Mohsen Qamsari, head of the international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company said Iran will be able to immediately resume its oil sales to Europe once all sanctions are removed.

He said Iran will be able to immediately regain half of its pre-sanctions market in Europe.

Iran's oil export pre-sanctions stood at about 2.5 million barrels per day (mb/a), but the figure currently stands at around 1.1 mb/d. A series of sanctions by the U.S. and European countries have reduced Iran’s oil exports to around 1 million barrels per day.

Iran has the world's fourth largest proven oil reserves and the second biggest gas deposits. Both are seen as long under-tapped and ripe for exploration.

Exports have halved since the U.S. and EU sanctions were imposed on Iran's energy industry in 2012 as punishment for the country's disputed nuclear program.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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