Iran and China tightened its relations in the energy sector after National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) inked a new crude and condensate sales agreement with China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), Trade Arabia reported.

The Executive Director for International Affairs at NIOC, Seyed Mohsen Ghamsar, stated that accordingly crude oil will be supplied to four or five subsidiaries of the Chinese firm. “Current Iran exports more than 500,000bp/d to China and this figure is likely to increase further in 2016,” Iranian Mehr News quoted.

By his side, Iran’s Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, added that “China’s Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have been put in charge of developing the second phases of North Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields within buyback contract,”  following a meeting with Deputy Head of China’s National Energy Administration, Zhang Yuqing.