(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Iran and the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) concluded agreements on further cooperation in oil and gas sectors, including building small refineries in Africa.
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi held separate meetings with economic officials from Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Venezuela, Angola, Nigeria, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, India and a number of the other Asian and African states on the sidelines of the week-long meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement summit here in Tehran to discuss expansion and consolidation of economic cooperation.
The Iranian minister and the officials of the abovementioned countries discussed construction of small refineries in a number of African states, export of Iran-made oil industry parts and export of technical and engineering services in the strategic oil sector.
Earlier, Qassemi announced that the country is in talks with NAM member states to find new customers for its crude amidst an array of western sanctions against the country's oil trade.
"We have had some negotiations with certain countries, including those states which buy our oil like India and certain African and Central Asian states," Qassemi told reporters on the sidelines of the NAM's ministerial meeting on Wednesday.
"The results of Iran's negotiations with the NAM members will come to be observed after the (NAM) summit," he added.
On Saturday an Iranian lawmaker said that Iran and member states of the Non-Aligned Movement held comprehensive talks on oil trade.
"Given the fact that all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are also members of the NAM and are in Tehran now, officials from the (Iranian) oil ministry took action to have meeting with them on various oil issues, including oil trade and supply," Rapporteur of the parliament's Energy Commission said.
He said the oil ministry officials have also held talks with a number of oil consuming countries on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Tehran, adding that the commission will soon review outcomes of the consultations.
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