TEHRAN (TCA) — Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh has announced Tehran’s plan to increase the level of Iranian oil production to four million barrels per day (bpd), Iran’s PressTV news agency reported on April 6.
Zangeneh told Iranian media that the country’s crude output would reach 4 million bpd by March 2017.
He said Iran’s annual budget predicts the amount of oil export to be around 2,250,000 bpd.
The oil minister said the crude output experienced a surge after the removal of anti-Iran sanctions in January under a nuclear agreement reached between Tehran and the permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) last July.
The minister added that Iran’s crude exports will top 2 million bpd in the two Iranian calendar months ending on April 19.
Meanwhile, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet with non-OPEC producers in the Qatari capital, Doha, on April 17 to discuss a possible oil output freeze to make oil prices grow.
The Doha talks are expected to widen February’s initial output freeze deal by Qatar, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia.
Iranian officials have expressed Tehran’s determination to continue increasing its oil production and exports until it regains its pre-sanction market position.
Zangeneh said last month that Iran would join oil production freeze discussions after its own production reaches four million bpd.
