Iran deals 2 blows to US at global oil talks

DOHA, Apr 22 (Reuters) Iran struck two blows against the United States on Saturday -- closing in on a gas deal with Pakistan and India that Washington opposes and promising non-U.S. oil customers to keep its exports flowing.

Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri made the announcement at talks here between the world's energy producers and consumers aimed at bringing down oil prices from a record a barrel -- their highest level in real terms for 25 years.

Increasingly strident exchanges between the United States and Iran over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme have raised fears that the world's fourth biggest oil exporter may halt flows, or be forced to do so by international sanctions. The United States slapped a unilateral ban on Iran's oil in the mid-1990s, but Europe and Asia remain big customers.

''We strongly believe there is no reason for sanctions but in any case we will not cut our oil exports. During the 8 year war imposed by Iraq we never stopped exporting,'' Vaziri told Reuters.

The United Nations Security Council may consider sanctions against Tehran after studying a report due on April 28 from the U.N.

International Atomic Agency on whether Iran is meeting its demands for a halt to uranium enrichment.

Asked to respond to speculation Iran could redirect exports to customers that were sympathetic to its cause, Vaziri said: ''We will continue to meet our obligations to all our customers.'' He and Pakistan's oil minister also told Reuters that Iran, India and Pakistan were close to signing a billion gas pipeline deal in defiance of U.S. pressure.

The three men met to discuss the much-delayed project to pump gas through Pakistan to India during the International Energy Forum bringing together 65 government ministers and top executives from 32 oil and gas companies.

''We have a very good understanding. They are willing and Iran is ready,'' Vaziri said. Pakistan's oil minister, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, said only technical issues had to be resolved.

First proposed more than a decade ago, the pipeline's progress has been slow because of hostility between India and Pakistan and U.S. dislike of Iran.

Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, has said the pipeline would aid economic growth and foster better ties with India after years of brinkmanship.

U.S. ON BACK FOOT OVER PRICES Oil consumers -- from the United States to the developing economies of Africa -- feel vulnerable to record prices that may endanger their economies. They are urging international oil companies to spend more on producing and refining oil and they want exporters like Saudi Arabia to lift barriers to investment.

Irked members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries point out that they have increased oil output by more than 10 percent over the past six years. Saudi Arabia alone is spending billions of dollars on new oilfields.

Some OPEC delegates here say U.S. foreign policy is partly responsible for today's record prices. Libya's top oil official Shokri Ghanem said fears of U.S. military action against Iran had added up to to the cost of a barrel of oil.

Other producers blame a lack of planning in consumer nations, particularly the United States, which uses a quarter of the world's oil and over 40 percent of its gasoline but has not built a new refinery on its soil for decades.

The planned introduction of new, cleaner gasoline in the United States this summer may lead to short-term supply disruptions, U.S.

Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Friday.

He will have an opportunity to answer the United States' critics when he arrives in Doha later this weekend.

''We are worried about supply in general throughout the world and particularly of gasoline and particularly in the United States,'' Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, told Reuters.

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