Iran and North Korea on Aug. 8 agreed to step up cooperation in the energy sector. "Both nations can cooperate in the fields of exploration, production and other fields of the energy sector," Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said after the meeting with North Korean Foreign Trade Minister Rim Kyong Man.
Shana news agency said the North Korean minister said Pyongyang wanted an expansion of cooperation in energy and also to swap refined petrol with crude oil from OPEC's number two producer. "Since both nations are in the front row of the fight against imperialism and now political relations are at the highest level, North Korea is to get oil from Iran and to provide Iran with a surplus of its own refined petrol," he said, according to Shana.
No further details were given but Iran is forced to import millions of liters of petrol daily to make up for shortfalls created by a lack of refineries at home. Rim also added that North Korean engineers would visit Iran to gain technical knowledge about refineries.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
