Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.24 / Trend, A.Taghiyeva /
India has asked Riyadh to increase oil exports to the country in order to reduce its dependence on Iranian supplies, Al-Jazeera TV channel reports with reference to the Saudi Arabian Petroleum Ministry on Friday. India appealed to the country to increase the supply by 100,000 barrels per day.
Earlier the S-Oil Corporation of South Korea and Saudi Aramco signed an agreement on supplies of Saudi oil to South Korea for the next 20 years. It helps to significantly reduce dependence of Seoul on Iranian oil supplies. More than nine per cent of South Korea's economy needs in oil are met by Iran.
Earlier, it was reported that on Jan 23, EU countries agreed to ban oil imports from Iran as from July 1. The country ranks fourth in the world on production volume.
The reason for sanctions against Iran was the publication of the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It stated that Iran operated to create nuclear weapons until 2003 and that this activity may be being carried out up till now. The U.S., Israel and several Western countries suspect Iran of attempts to create nuclear weapons. In reply, the Iranian government says that its nuclear programme is peaceful.