‘It’s impossible to overlook Iran’s oil in world markets’

TEHRAN,Feb.1(MNA) - The Iranian oil minister said that international sanctions have not been effective on investments in Iran’s oil and gas industry, and that Iranian oil can not be excluded from international markets. Rostam Qasemi said that it is self-defeating for countries to impose oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic. A law debated in Iran's parliament on Sunday could halt exports of oil to the European Union as early as next week. The parliament is pushing for the export ban to deny the EU a 6-month phase-in of the embargo on Iranian oil that the bloc agreed last week as part of a raft of tough new Western sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program. The EU accounted for 18 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), making it Iran's second biggest customer after China. The EU slapped new sanctions on Iran in a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers on January 23. The 27-member bloc agreed to ban oil imports as well as petroleum products from the major OPEC member state and freeze the assets of the Iranian Central Bank in the EU. The European Union also imposed a ban on the sale of gold, diamonds, and other precious metals to Iran. Oil Minister Qasemi said it is not possible to overlook the integral role Iran’s oil plays in world energy markets. “Iran’s oil is not negligible in the international markets,” Qasemi said.