EU says switching suppliers after Iran oil claim

(BRUSSELS) - An Iranian broadcaster's announcement that Tehran will "revise" oil sales to six European Union states will make little difference as EU buyers were already switching suppliers, the European Commission said Wednesday.

The Tehran position, presented as retaliation for a staggered EU ban on petroleum exports, was issued after ambassadors from France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain were each summoned, it said.

A diplomat told AFP that oil sales were not discussed.

"Oil is something you can get on the international markets, and Saudi Arabia said they would increase their production," said Marlene Holzner, spokeswoman for EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

"What we hear from member states is that they will switch to other suppliers," she said.

After weeks of fraught talks on an embargo which could hurt debt-straddled European Union nations, EU ministers last month agreed on an immediate ban on oil imports and a gradual phase-out of existing contracts between now and July 1.

Iran is the second-biggest producer in OPEC, behind Saudi Arabia. It pumps some 3.5 million barrels a day, of which 2.5 million are exported.

The EU imported some 600,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day in the first 10 months of last year, mainly into Italy, Spain and the battered Greek economy, which benefits from advantageous terms.

Iran has previously threatened to cut off oil supplies to EU countries.