Tehran, Iran, July 8
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
It depends on the kind of action Russia and Saudi Arabia take in the face of Iran returning to its traditional oil markets whether the Islamic Republic will be able to do so, an Iranian energy expert said.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that the ministry is attempting to find its way into markets it has lost under sanctions.
Mansour Moazami, Iran's deputy oil minister for planning and supervision affairs, has been quoted by the media as saying that Iran's oil exports would reach 2.3 million barrels, compared with around 1.2 million barrels a day today.
If these two oil powers-Russia and Saudi Arabia- try to prevent Iran from entering its former markets by giving discounts on their oil, Iran will not be able to find a way into those markets, Narsi Ghorban, Iranian economy of energy expert, told Trend July 8.
Iran is already in contact with former oil buyers in the European Union-traders such as Vitol Group and big oil producers such as Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Eni SpA-and existing importers in Asia to help absorb the potential new shipments.
But of course the discussion here relates to three or four years from now and Iran will not be able to seek its traditional markets right away even if sanctions are removed soon, he said.
The reason for that is that the country needs a lot of development to prepare for that situation, Ghorban asserted. He noted that due to sanctions, Iran has fallen behind in developing its oil industry and a lot of work is needed to revive the industry.
Iran is currently negotiating with P5+1 group of countries - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - over a final nuclear agreement that envisages the lifting of certain economic sanctions against Iran in return for certain moves by the country to restrict some of its nuclear energy activities.
Edited by CN