Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has confirmed that Tehran has sent a letters to OPEC members about raising its crude output once the sanctions are lifted.
The letter reads that Iran will return to its pre-sanctions output level in a very short time once the international sanctions are removed, Zanganeh said.
Zanganeh made the remarks upon his arrival in Vienna, Austria on June 3 to take part in the 167th Ministerial Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the 6th OPEC International Seminar.
"We have asked OPEC to take the issue into account while making decision," Zanganeh said, the oil ministry's official SHANA news agency reported.
He further said that if OPEC members want to maintain the crude prices in the current level they should open space for Iran's output.
"We will not wait for anybody's decision about our action to increase the output," Zanganeh said, adding OPEC has a production ceiling that is not divided between the members currently.
Currently, OPEC's oil production quota stands at 30 million barrels per day.
In its November 2014 meeting, OPEC left the ceiling of production unchanged, despite calls by some members such as Iran and Venezuela to reduce production to shore up prices.
Iran wants other OPEC members to make way for a rise in its exports if it succeeds in reaching a final deal with six world powers (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) over its nuclear program. A deadline for agreement on the nuclear issue falls on June 30.
By holding 157 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves, Iran possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of crude oil.
Iran's current oil production is estimated to be around 2.8 million barrels per day of which about one million barrels are exported.
Tehran once was OPEC's second-biggest producer and now stands at the fifth place.
Edited by CN
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