(Reuters) - Iran is not happy with current oil prices but does not expect them to rise soon because the market is balanced, the deputy head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) told Reuters on Wednesday.
"Crude prices are not satisfactory but... we are not expecting them to rise in the near future... In October, the crude market will be balanced," NIOC deputy chief, Mohsen Qamsari, said.
"The market is good, it has a good appetite," he said.
The head of NIOC's international affairs said he expected China to keep buying its crude despite political pressure from the United States to reduce trade with Tehran.
"I find it unlikely that the Chinese will avoid Iran's crude unless under heavy political pressure," he told Reuters in an interview. "But they have proven in the past that they won't withdraw even under pressure."
Qamsari said Iran has over 150 billion barrels of oil reserves.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Ramin Mostafavi, editing by Daniel Fineren)
