Mohammad Khatibi told the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday that China has committed to invest heavily in Iran’s oil and gas sector as part of an agreement which was finalized over the weekend in Tehran between Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers.
“Based on this development, we would be able to increase the size of output and subsequently expand the exports,” said Khatibi.
A draft of the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” deal between Iran and China published last year suggested that Chinese entities would commit to over $400 billion in investment in key sectors of the Iranian economy, including in oil and gas projects.
Iran in return would guarantee a steady supply of crude to China as one of the largest oil consumers in the world.
Khatibi highlighted economic forecasts showing that China’s demand for crude would increase significantly in the years to come as the country is set to outdo the United States to become the largest economy in the world.
He said China would commit to huge investment in Iran’s energy sector partly to ensure it would have unrestricted access to crude supplies over the next decades.
The former OPEC official said the investment would also be a blow to US efforts to stifle the flow of oil from Iran through sanctions.
“When an investment is made, the investor would seek to gain benefits regardless of any conditions that exist including the sanctions,” he said.
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