Iran’s export of crude oil and gas condensates is now over 2 million barrels a day, Oil Minister announced in a statement on Sunday.
“In the upstream sector, the completion of semi-finished phases of South Pars Gas Field and the Persian Gulf Star Refinery as well as promotion of Iran’s new petroleum contracts tops the Oil Ministry’s list of priorities in the current Iranian year [started March 20],” Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Under the sanctions regime, Iran’s crude export fell from 2.5 million barrels in 2011 to under 1 million barrels.
But Iran—now the third-largest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries—is pressing ahead with plans to pump more barrels, as the international sanctions against its energy industry were lifted on Jan. 16.
It is currently pumping close to 3 million barrels a day. European customers have been the driving force behind the increase in Iran's crude exports.
OPEC's top exporter Saudi Arabia and the world's top oil producer Russia agreed on a plan in February to freeze their oil output at January levels.
Most other producers have since jumped on the oil freeze deal bandwagon, but Iran says it will not join the pact before boosting production to its pre-sanctions level of nearly 4 million barrels a day.
Zanganeh also noted that for the petrochemical sector, as a significant downstream industry, priorities include the operation of underway units and raising feedstock supplies for the currently operational units.
