Domestic private sector to export Iran's oil

A senior Iranian energy official said the country's private sector will "soon" export several new oil consignments to international markets, Tehran Times daily reported Wednesday. Hassan Khosrojerdi, head of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products' Exporters Union, said Tuesday that several new oil shipments will be sent to a number of foreign companies by Iranian private sector, according to the report. Using domestic oil tankers and insurance companies, the Iranian private sector has exported over 20 million barrels of light and heavy crude to the international markets over the past four months, Khosrojerdi was quoted as saying. Last week, the daily reported that Iranian private oil companies planned to lodge a complaint against the European Union (EU) in international courts in protest of the bloc's "illegal" sanctions against Iran. Quoting a source on the condition of anonymity, the report said some of the companies, which have been included in the EU's sanction list, were carrying out projects overseas and gained " huge" revenues. They are seeking ways to enable them to continue their activities and settle the problem through international courts. Earlier this month, the EU decided to enforce fresh sanctions against Iran, including a ban on the import of natural gas from Iran to the EU. It also agreed to broaden the existing export ban on key equipment and entities for Iranian oil, gas and petrochemical industries. The EU imposed an embargo on Iran's oil export on July 1. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said Tuesday that Western " sanctions are not new to Iran. We have been dealing with them for more the 30 years." Qasemi said his country plans to increase the production of alternative energy like solar, wind and bio-fuels in order to reduce the usage of its own oil and gas reserves for internal purposes. "Iran is implementing new economic policies such as subsidies reform, optimizing and standardizing fuel consumption, and changing domestic consuming model," the minister said at the ongoing three-day World Energy Forum 2012 in Dubai.