TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Monday that the oil market doesn’t have the spare capacity to replace Iranian oil in case of U.S. re-imposition of sanctions on the country.

“As I have repeatedly said there is no replacement for Iranian oil in the market. Saudi Arabia and Russia’s output is near their highest level ever and they have no spare capacity to pump more to replace Iran’s oil,” Shana quoted the minister as saying.

Washington is pushing allies to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero and will re-impose sanctions on Iranian oil and financial sectors in November.

Trump is also encouraging other oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members and Russia, to pump more to meet any shortfall.

Iran has repeatedly said that its oil exports cannot be reduced to zero because of high demand levels in the market. Under sanctions, Iran’s oil exports could fall by as much as two-thirds, straining oil markets.

“The market’s knowledge of this inability has raised the prices as the average price (of crude) ... Rising oil prices have slowed down the economic growth of most of the consumer countries, which is affecting the global economy,” Zanganeh said.

EF/MA