BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 8. Iran is currently exporting about 1.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, which shows a significant increase in the country's crude oil exports, Iranian Vice President Mohsen Mansouri said, Trend reports citing IRNA.
He made the remark in a joint meeting with provincial officials in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province in the north-west of the country on May 8, 2023.
According to Mansouri, the export of the mentioned volume of crude oil will positively affect the country's economy.
The vice president added that despite the existence of a number of financial problems in the country for the last Iranian year (March 21, 2022 through March 20, 2023), 2.7 quadrillion rials (about $64.3 billion) were provided for the purpose of improvement and reconstruction in the country.
“Within the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to West Azerbaijan Province in February, 2023, 200 trillion rials (about $4.76 billion) was allocated to the province for improvement and reconstruction purposes. So far, 50 trillion rials (about $1.19 billion) has been provided in this regard,” he said.
The imposition of sanctions on Iran by the US and Western countries seriously hinders the country’s crude oil exports. After 2018, Iran's crude oil exports were reported to be less than 500,000 barrels per day. Meanwhile, the current government of Iran (which has been in power since August 2021) stressed that Iran’s crude oil exports are increasing.
According to OPEC's report, Iran produced an average of 2,567,000 barrels of crude oil per day in March, 2023. This is a decrease of 8 percent compared to February, 2023. Meanwhile, Iranian official statistics say the country has been producing over 3 million barrels a day from August 2021 to this day.
There are currently 74 oil and 22 gas fields in Iran. So, 37 oil fields are operating in the territory of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC), 14 fields – Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC), 5 fields – Arvandan Oil and Gas Company (AOGC), and 18 oil fields – Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC).
In addition, 5 gas fields are operating in the territory of the NISOC, 13 fields – the ICOFC, 1 field – Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), and 3 gas fields – the IOOC.
Iran’s total hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion barrels. With available technology and equipment, Iran can extract 340 billion barrels. Thus, 30 percent of the country's hydrocarbon reserves are recoverable, while 70 percent remain underground.
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