Baku, Azerbaijan, June 18
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran will boost offshore oil production at the Persian Gulf to 500,000 barrel per day in the current year.
Moshtaq-Ali Gohari, National Iranian Oil Company's deputy director for planning, said over $2 billion has been allocated to implement offshore oil production in the Persian Gulf, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on June 18.
The Iranian calendar year starts on March 20.
The company plans to increase the production to 700,000 bpd over the course of three years, he added.
Iran's crude oil output has increased by 18,500 barrels per day in May compared to the previous month and reached 2.799 million barrels.
The country stood out among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries after Saudi Arabia and Iraq based on secondary sources, according to the latest monthly report of the OPEC, which was released on June 12.
The country's oil production is 3.23 mbpd for May according to an OPEC report based on direct communication, indicating a 431,000 barrel difference between OPEC's estimates and Iran's data.
Iran ranked third, in an OPEC report on oil production in 2012 after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, however in 2013 it fell to fifth place.
The country's oil production has decreased by 178,000 bpd since 2012, meanwhile, compared to the 2013 figure the country's oil output indicates an increase by 126,000 bpd.
Iran's Heavy crude oil price stood at $105.4/b in May, and indicates an increase of $1.08 compared to the preceding month.