TEHRAN, July 13 (UPI) -- India and China are driving the momentum in the crude oil market, prompting Iran to focus its efforts on those countries, an energy official said.
Mohsen Ghamsari, a director at the National Iranian Oil Co., described India and China as driving forces in world energy markets.
"So we should allocate a larger portion of our exports to the two countries, while preserving the Asian and European markets," he was quoted by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.
China, however, has taken on less crude in recent months adding to speculation that global economic recovery is slowing. The Independent, a London newspaper, reported this week that Chinese oil imports for June were 11.5 percent less than the same time last year.
Ghamsari said New Delhi was getting 400,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran per day. Both sides, however, have faced payment issues because of economic sanctions imposed on Iran.
The NIOC had said there were no problems with selling crude oil to India "except cash transfer limitations," IRNA added.
