According to IRNA, speaking today (Wednesday, May 18) on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting on the process of selling Iranian oil in world markets, Mr. Owji said: "Everyone is looking for a customer for oil; especially after the Russian energy embargo.”

He added: "Fortunately, we have our customers in the market and we have identified new markets that help oil exports, and this trend will continue vigorously."

Reacting to rumors of a Russian attempt to increase oil sales in order to influence the Iranian market, the petroleum minister noted: "Russia has offered discounts to oil buyers, but given the sanctions imposed by the West against this country, it will take time for the Russians to find customers."

Owji also underlined completion of studies on the Arash gas field, saying: "The Arash field is shared between Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is consulting to resolve disputes related to the development of this field, and a platform will be installed soon." .

Referring to his 10-day visit to some Latin American countries, he said: "The Ministry of Petroleum has great potentialities in the upstream sector for oil and gas production and in the field of downstream industries such as construction of refineries and petrochemical plants, and in this visit good agreements in the field of oil sales, export of technical and engineering services, development of oil and gas fields were struck, and we had a good understanding in enhancing oil refining capacity.”

The minister of petroleum stated: “The average annual rainfall of these countries is more than 2,000 milliliters and they have a good capacity in the agricultural sector and can supply many of our demand for agricultural items, especially cereals. We made agreements with some of these countries for bartering crude oil with staple and agricultural commodities and documents were signed in this regard.”

"The Iran International Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exhibition is one of the largest oil exhibitions in the world and more than 1,200 domestic and foreign companies attended the event," Owji went on to add.

He added: "God willing, 44 semi-finished projects worth $13 billion will be inaugurated this [calendar] year (which started on March 21), and we will start working on more than 22 projects worth $30 billion."

In response to a question about the process and programs of the administration in support for knowledge-based companies, he said: "More than 150 knowledge-based companies with knowledge and technology in the field of oil were present at Iran Oil Show and good memoranda and contracts were signed and regulations to support knowledge-based companies have also been prepared and will be discussed in the cabinet soon.”