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Iran’s oil and gas reserves estimated at 1.2 trillion barrels: NIOC chief

Photo published by Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service shows a view to a drilling rig at Iran’s Forouzan oilfield on the maritime border with Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has the equivalent of over 1.2 trillion barrels of oil and gas as a senior Oil Ministry official says the country will be able to tap those reserves for at least a century from now.

CEO of the state run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr said late on Friday that Iran is now the largest holder of hydrocarbon reserves in the world considering its new discoveries.

“With regards to in-place oil and gas and also in-place liquids and condensates we have the equivalent of more than 1,200 billion barrels of crude under the ground,” Khojasteh Mehr told the state TV.

Giving a breakdown of the figure, the deputy oil minister said that Iran’s extractable crude reserves are estimated at 157 billion barrels considering the enhanced recovery rate.

He added that natural gas reserves are estimated at 33 trillion cubic meters (116.5 trillion cubic feet).

Khojasteh Mehr said the massive reserves enables Iran to continue to produce oil and gas for at least the next 100 years.

The figures come days after Iranian government officials said crude oil production in the country had reached levels seen before the United States imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 following its decision to withdraw from an international deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Media reports and government statements suggest crude exports from Iran have been at around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) since late last year. That comes despite US sanctions which have sought to pile economic pressure on Iran by choking off its oil export revenues.

Khojasteh Mehr insisted that Iran’s crude production had already reached a pre-sanctions capacity of over 3.8 million bpd.


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