Iran oil output not to change until sanctions removed: NIOC head
Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company says the Islamic Republic will not increase production of crude oil until sanctions imposed against its energy sector are removed.
According to Iranian Oil Ministry's official SHANA news agency, Roknoddin Javadi made the remarks in reaction to recent reports that the country aims to boost its crude output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) within the coming week.
“Any increase in Iran's oil production depends on the removal of sanctions and [the country’s] oil output will not undergo any change as long as sanctions are in place,” he added.
In an interview broadcast live on Iranian state TV on August 1, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Iran can increase its oil production by 500,000 bpd within a week “immediately after the removal” of sanctions against the country.”
The Iranian minister added that Tehran has informed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of its determination to regain its lost market share, stressing that the country will require “nobody’s authorization to reclaim its rights.”
Zanganeh stated that before sanctions were imposed on Iran, the country produced up to 3.9 million bpd of oil, but the figure fell to one million barrels a day after the imposition of sanctions.
“At present, Iran's oil production stands at over 2.7 million bpd, one million barrels of which are exported,” he added.
On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of an agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
Under the JCPOA, Iran has accepted limitations on its nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of all economic and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The sanctions were imposed on Tehran by the European Union and the United States at the beginning of 2012 under the pretext that there was diversion in Iran's civilian nuclear program toward military purposes. Iran firmly rejected the allegation, noting that its civilian nuclear program only pursued peaceful goals.
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