China, India main customers of Iranian oil

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Director for International Affairs Mohsen Qamsari told Shana the bulk of NIOC's contracts had been concluded with these two countries. He further rejected alleged decline in Iran's crude exports to China, and said, "Oil delivery to China has not declined, and rather increased compared to the last year." He referred to India as the second biggest customer of Iran's oil, and mentioned that not only does India purchase oil from Iran based on long-term contracts, but it also "buys our oil in the form of single-consignment in spot markets". "We should wait up to the end of the year to see which country has been the top buyer of our oil," the official said. He denied Iran has sold its oil at discount to India, and said our customers pay the oil price based on 30 day terms so if they delay in their payment they should pay additional interest fees. He also said that the NIOC extended oil contracts with all its customers prior to the imposition of sanctions, and added that the contracts have been concluded based on one year terms and therefore "we are not worried about selling our oil this year".