Baku, Azerbaijan, April 4
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Deputy Oil Minister in International and Trade Affairs Hossein Zamani Nia has said that the country is ready to revive its share of the OPEC output following the nuclear agreement.
He noted that Tehran's framework agreement with the group P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) will greatly boom Iran's oil industry.
He said that a lot of foreign countries and companies have already expressed their readiness to cooperate in Iran's oil industry, IRNA news agency reported April 4.
Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement on April 2 on curbing Iran's nuclear program for at least a decade.
According to a joint announcement, Iran will have only one uranium enrichment plant, Natanz. Also Iran will change the Fordo uranium enrichment plant to a nuclear research site.
Iran will also change the design of Arak heavy water plant to make less plutonium and the International Atomic Energy Agency will have more access to Iran's nuclear facilities.
In exchange, the EU and the U.S. will halt their sanctions on Iran after reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal (expected to be achieved by June 30).
The official further noted that the ministry is mulling how to boost its output in a short time.
"The Oil Ministry and affiliated companies are ready to start their activities vigorously and work in a new international environment as soon as the sanctions are lifted," Zamani Nia stated.
The Iranian Oil Ministry announced March 19 that it was holding a snap drill on increasing oil production.
The snap drill was announced after reports indicating the nuclear talks are going to yield the outcome desired by Tehran.
Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh stated then that during the drills Iran would practice producing 3 million barrels of oil a day in the southern fields.
In the meantime, Zanganeh said that in case sanctions are lifted, Iran will increase oil output by one million barrels for a short time.
Iran's current oil production stands at around one million barrels a day. The oil is exported to Turkey, India, China, South Korea, and Japan.