Iran to ramp up oil exports by 150K bpd
Executive Director for International Affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyyed Mohsen Ghamsari made the remarks explaining that "presently, a daily amount of 600 to 650 thousand barrels of crude oil are being deployed to European countries."
In response to a question about Iran's exception to OPEC's quota and the possibility to boost crude exports from the country, Ghamsari "said a daily average of 2.2 million barrels of oil is now being deployed to world markets."
"Under present circumstances, the consumption volume in domestic markets and refineries stands at about 1.8 to 1.85 million barrels per day," underlined the official asserting "accordingly, any increase in oil output would take place with export purposes in mind."
In response to another question about Iran's plan to gain 13 percent of the production share at OPEC and the feasibility of boosting production by 500 thousand bpd after the oil freeze deal, the NIOC official stated "Iran's first objective is to reach a daily exports volume of 2.350 thousand barrels."
"The country's export capacity will grow by 150 thousand barrels per day in the months to come," underscored Ghamsari stressing the aim is attainable thanks to the current supply and demand trend in the market.
He also emphasized that reaching 2.5 million barrels per day in oil exports will prove to be a tough and complex task; "nevertheless, Iran would spare no effort to increase crude exports to 2.35 million bpd in a few months in order to reach pre-sanction levels."
Ghamsari further recalled that a portion of Iranian crude is shipped to Asian markets while the rest is exported to Europe; "currently, a daily average of 600 to 650 thousand barrels of crude oil are being sent to European states," he reiterated.
Source: MEHR News Agency