Jun 11, 2014
Iran is increasing oil production and can boost output by 700,000 barrels a day within two months if international sanctions on its economy are lifted, according to Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh.
Iran’s exports have dropped by about half since penalties over its nuclear program were tightened in 2012. The supply increase will continue through next month even as sanctions remain in place, Zanganeh said without providing figures. Current output, including crude and condensate, is about 1.5 million barrels a day, he estimated.
“We have capacity of close to 4 million barrels a day,” Zanganeh told reporters in Vienna yesterday before a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries today.
The next round of negotiations over Iranâs nuclear program is scheduled to be held in the Austrian capital on June 16. Diplomats are seeking a final agreement by July 20, and if the deadline isn’t met, the government will still push to increase production, according to Zanganeh.
Daily output from the South Pars field will rise by 100 million cubic meters of natural gas and about 160,000 barrels of condensates in the year ending March 20, 2015, he said.
The Persian Gulf nation plans to unveil new oil contracts in London in November to attract investment from major companies and is focusing on older fields that require advanced methods of recovery. A draft of the contract, presented in Tehran in February, received “mostly positive” feedback from companies, Zanganeh said.
Source: BLOOMBERG Businessweek