Syria is looking to sell the oil it can no longer export to Europe to Russia, China and other non-Arab countries, its finance minister said on Wednesday, September 7.

The European Union, the biggest buyer of Syrian crude oil, banned EU imports of the country's oil on Saturday to put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. Syria, which exports around 110,000-150,000 barrels a day of crude mainly to Germany and Italy, is now looking for other buyers.

"We will either refine it ... or sell it directly to Russia, China or any country that accepts to buy our extra oil," Syrian Finance Minister Mohammad al-Jleilati said. "Otherwise we will keep it as reserves," he added, without explaining whether that meant not pumping it from Syria's oil fields or pumping into storage sites. He said the Syrian government was not concerned about sanctions and that they would have no direct impact on economy, Reuters reported.