“We don’t want to replace Iranian oil and we never said we wanted to,” the oil official, who asked not to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday.
The kingdom will respond to its customers’ demands for more oil but “it doesn’t want to get involved in the politics behind the sanctions,” the Saudi official clarified.
“No-one is happy with the current situation about the Iranian sanctions. Neither the Americans, the Europeans or Asians are pleased with it,” he stressed.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi announced in January that the Kingdom is not “trying to compensate for Iranian oil,” in case anti-Iran sanctions take effect, also mentioning Riyadh is capable of ramping up its current production of 9-9.5 million barrels of crude per day to 12.5 million.
The US, Israel and some of their allies have accused Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. The US and the EU have used this pretext to impose international and unilateral sanctions against Iran.
The Islamic Republic has strongly refuted Western allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iran due to its policy of nuclear transparency has allowed IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities. The inspectors have never found evidence indicating that Tehran’s nuclear energy program has been diverted towards weapons production.
