Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Sunday that Iran will sell oil to India in euro instead of rupee.
'From now on, Iran will trade oil only in euros [with India],' Zanganeh said according to Iran's energy information network Shana.
During the years of Western sanctions against Iran due to the Tehran's secret nuclear activities, Asian markets like China, South Korea and India became the main importers of Iranian oil. Iran exports 350 thousand barrels of oil per day to India.
The minister claimed that Tehran is willing to cooperate with Indians on petrochemical development projects in Iran through the supply of feedstock for petrochemical plants.
'Indian companies can operate in Iran whether independently or in the form of joint ventures, or they can cooperate with engineering and equipment companies in Iran,' he added.
In response to the question of Iran attending the upcoming meeting in Doha to discuss an oil production freeze, Zanganeh said, 'There is still much time left to the meeting.'
The P5+1 that includes China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., plus Germany, reached a deal with Tehran last July to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the relief of crippling economic sanctions.
After the sanctions lift, the development of Iran's industry is one of Tehran's main targets. To this end, Iran has steadily increased its production capacity, reaching 3.13 million barrels per day of oil in February, an increase of 187 thousand barrels per day from January.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
huseyin.erdogan@aa.com.tr