The National Iranian South Oil Company plans to increase oil production by 600,000 barrels per day once sanctions are fully lifted, according to its director general.
"The company is fully geared to gradually raise output in the shortest period possible," IRNA quoted Bijan Alipour as saying.
"Given its large oil reservoirs, Iran is capable of boosting production to its previous rate of about 3 million bpd prior to sanctions," he stressed, adding that the current production rate of the region stands at 2 million bpd.
The official also announced a visit by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh to Khuzestan Province within the next two to three weeks to inaugurate a desalination plant of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company with a capacity of 75,000 bpd and another oil production plant with a capacity of 75,000 bpd.
Noting that most national oil reservoirs are located in the oil-rich regions south of Iran, Alipour said the world's oil giants have already expressed eagerness to invest in the oilfields operating under NISOC's auspices in the post-sanctions era.
NISOC is Iran's biggest crude oil producer, which accounts for 83% of Iran's crude output and 16% of the country's natural gas production. It is in charge of onshore oilfields in southern Iran, including Azadegan, Yadavaran, Ahvaz, Gachsaran, Marun and Aghajari, and focuses on onshore upstream activity in the province of Khuzestan.
Iran plans to produce 3.8 million to 3.9 million barrels of oil a day by March, with output rising by 500,000 barrels a day soon after sanctions are lifted and by 1 million barrels within the following five months.
An Oil Ministry official has declared that the Islamic Republic will reach the 500,000-bpd milestone by late November or early December even before most western sanctions are lifted.
