Chinese state-owned energy giant Sinopec Group renewed its oil and gas condensates purchase contracts with the National Iranian Oil Company for a year and serious negotiations are underway to increase Iran's oil export to the Southeast Asian country.
"The new contracts call for providing Sinopec Group refineries with the much-needed crude for a year," Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, told Mehr News Agency.
Commenting on Iran's oil export volume to China, the official added that more than 500,000 barrels per day are being exported to China these days, yet plans have been made to boost exports in the near future.
"Unlike oil, gas condensates export volume to the Southeast Asian states is marginal and stands at less than 100,000 bpd," he said.
According to Qamsari, China is among traditional strategic customers of Iran's oil.
Moreover, it kept importing oil from Iran even during sanctions, a period when many of the so-called loyal customers stopped cooperating with NIOC to comply with the world powers imposing banking and economic sanctions on the Persian Gulf state.
"Serious negotiations are also underway to have a threefold increase in oil export to Japan," the official added, noting that plans have been made to raise Iran's share in Japan's market to 10%, which is 350,000 bpd.
Qamsari believes that Iran's high quality crude compared to that of other competitors is definitely a bargaining chip to capture the world's oil market. In fact, Iran has always been a reliable supplier for refiners all over the world even under the worst geopolitical circumstances.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had already announced that Chinese companies like Sinopec can be part of Iran's new oil projects or help boost recovery from developed fields on their own or in alliance with Europeans.
