Iran has told the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries it pumped 3.63 million barrels of oil per day in August, up 10,000 bpd from July, an OPEC source said, marking a slowdown in the rapid growth that followed the lifting of international restrictions against its nuclear program in January.
Iran has so far insisted that it will not be part of a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC Russia on freezing crude production to boost prices, as the country is on track to recoup the market share it lost under sanctions. Renewed talks on an output pact are under way, Reuters reported.
The Iranian production figure is due to be published on Monday in the OPEC’s monthly report. The report will also show the secondary sources OPEC uses to estimate its output also see Iran’s August production at 3.63 million bpd, unchanged from July.
The latest OPEC figures suggest Iranian production has reached the level it pumped in late 2011, before the last round of sanctions were tightened leading to a drop in Iranian exports.
Iran’s Oil Ministry said this month that crude output has surpassed 3.8 million barrels a day. The figure includes gas condensates, a type of light, sweet crude extracted from the country’s gas reserves in the Persian Gulf.
