'Saudi Arabia unable to offset Iran oil'

Iranian lawmaker Hassan Shabanpour

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222911.html

A member of Iran's Majlis says the EU-engineered embargo on the Islamic Republic's crude oil is “media hype” as the Saudi Arabia cannot offset the loss of Iranian oil in the market.

“The country [Saudi Arabia] cannot change the amount of its oil output in short-term. By the way, since Riyadh is [one of] the OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] member states, it must follow its policies,” Hassan Shabanpour said on Monday.

Foreign ministers of the European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran's oil exports over the country's peaceful nuclear program during their Monday meeting in Brussels.

The sanctions involve an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran and a freeze on the assets of the country's Central Bank within the EU.

This comes while earlier this month Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said the kingdom is capable of increasing its oil output as the world price is rising after the EU agreed on imposing an embargo on Iran's oil.

Shabanpour also warned that if any problem disrupts the process of Iran's oil export, “all the regional states will be entangled” as they will not be able to export their oil in a “calm and secure atmosphere.”

Referring to the EU's decision in stopping the crude oil import from Iran in a six-month period, the lawmaker said, “This shows that they [the EU] are seeking to carry out a psychological maneuver against Iran, otherwise they would have brought the sanction into force so far.”