Oil prices, not sanctions, drive China BEIJING, March 5 (UPI) -- Oil prices on the broader global market are what determine China's interest in Iranian crude oil, not sanctions, a former energy official said. The U.S. and European governments have put pressure on Iranian financial organizations to make it more difficult for Tehran to deal in crude oil. Japan and South Korea have said they were looking at alternative suppliers to offset Iranian crude imports. But Zhang Guobao, former head of China's National Energy Administration, told Bloomberg News that market prices, not sanctions, were the determining factor in Beijing's crude oil decisions. "China's crude import costs may be pushed up by tension in Iran as oil prices could rise on supply concern," he said. The Chinese government has said sanctions against Iran weren't practical. Crude oil prices are near 9-month highs in part because of geopolitical tensions with Iran. Tehran threatened to choke off key shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and stopped selling crude oil to the British and French governments. Those actions prompted some governments to consider tapping into strategic petroleum reserves to compensate for market tensions. The International Energy Agency, which last year requested a strategic oil release because of the war in oil-rich Libya, said there currently aren't any physical market disruptions that would necessitate additional action.