Iran oil experts set to increase

Iran is poised to see its oil exports rise by 200,000 barrels per day (b/d) by the end of summer if sanctions are lifted in July, an international energy consulting group says.

Facts Global Energy also forecast another 300,000 b/d increase in Iran’s oil exports by the end of the year.  

Fereidoun Fesharaki, chairman of the body, told a Middle East energy conference that a further boost of 700,000 b/d is expected by June next year.

He told the 23rd annual Middle East Petroleum and Gas conference that condensate exports would rise by 200,000 b/d.

Fesharaki said the sanctions relief would also allow Iran to envisage building gas pipelines to Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A senior Iranian official said on Monday that Tehran has already started talks with Asian and European refineries in a bid to increase its market share.

“Iran is prepared for returning oil exports to the levels before sanctions once they are fully removed,” Mohsen Qamsari, director for international affairs of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said.

The Iranian official reiterated that NIOC has special plans for boosting oil exports after the US-engineered sanctions against Iran are lifted as part of a possible final nuclear deal between Tehran and the P 5+1 group of countries.

Iran’s current oil production is estimated to be around 2.7 mb/d of which about 1 million barrels are exported – as required by the current regime of sanctions.

Its major oil customers are China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey but the US and European sanctions are preventing international banks from transferring money to the Islamic Republic.

Iran holds the world's fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves.

Iran’s total in-place oil reserves have been estimated at more than 560 billion barrels, with about 140 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Heavy and extra-heavy varieties of crude oil account for roughly 70-100 billion barrels of the total reserves.