Iran Says It can Boost Oil Output Just Days After Sanctions End

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said today in an interview with state TV that Iran can boost oil production “in one week” after international sanctions are lifted. He said production could increase by 500,000 bpd within a week after sanctions and by 1 million bpd within a month following that. Zanganeh warned that OPEC’s refusal to accommodate Iran in export markets would result in lower crude prices. (IRNA/Bloomberg, 2 August)

“Our lost share of market, which was about 1 million barrel a day, will manifest itself,” Zanganeh said. Even if crude prices fall, Iran’s (oil export) revenues will stay the same because exports are due to double, he added. (Shana/Bloomberg, 2 August)

Iran produced an average of 2.85 million barrels a day in July compared with 3.6 million at the end of 2011 when oil and banking sanctions went into effect. The Iranian oil exports declined to 1.4 million bpd after sanctions compared to 2.6 million bpd in 2011.

“Some of the most effective sanctions with regard to the oil industry were those targeted aspects such as sales, volumes, shipment, insurance and the transfer of the money,” Zanganeh said. “If those issues are resolved, Iran will regain the market share that it has lost which amounts to more than one million barrels a day.” (IRNA/Press TV, 2 August)

Amid surplus crude supply, the global benchmark Brent crude fell about 50 percent last year and dropped 2.1 percent on Friday to $52.21 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

File photo: Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images/Bloomberg)