Saudi Arabia will not be able to replace Iranian oil supplies in the long run, in case of shortfalls due to sanctions against Iran, state television quoted Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi as saying.

On Friday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was determined to bring down high oil prices, reiterating there were no supply shortages in the global markets and the kingdom stood ready to use its spare production capacity if necessary.

"The level at which Saudi Arabia is producing at the moment, I think that's a maximum," said Qasemi, quoted by Iran's Press TV news channel late on Monday. "If it wants to produce any further it may be on a temporary basis... in the long-run that cannot last," Qasemi said.

Concern of a supply shortage due to production problems in some producing countries as US and European sanctions target exports from Opec's second-largest producer Iran have helped lift Brent crude by about 13 percent this year.

"Qasemi said there had been no drop in production of Iranian crude despite unilateral sanctions by the EU and the United States," the English-language television reported. "Iran's crude is of high quality and will always have its own customers," Qasemi added.- Reuters