Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 9
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) already has buyers lined up for the up to 500,000 barrels per day of extra crude oil production it hopes to bring on stream within the next six months, International Oil Daily (IOD) reported referring a company official.
Mohsen Ghamsari, director of international affairs at NIOC, told IOD that for the additional volumes, Iran has enough demand.
"Already we have negotiated and as soon as we can pump out the crude, the demand will be available," he said.
Ghamsari said that Iran is also currently exporting 100,000-150,000 barrels per day of condensates, with some volumes in floating storage.
He stressed the Asia-Pacific region would remain a major focus of NIOC's marketing push amid intense competition for customers, as Iran is happy to send out "as much as (Asia) can absorb."
Downstream, Iran is also currently talking to Indian, Indonesian and European refineries about taking stakes in their plants, according to Ghamsari.
Iran was producing more than 3.8 million barrels per day during the pre-sanctions era in 2011, of which 2.2 million barrels per day was being exported.
The sanctions on Iran were eliminated in January 2016 and the country's output has increased to 3.65 million barrels per day since then, and the export has surpassed 2 million barrels per day.
Iran President Hassan Rouhani said on Aug.24 that Iran's oil output has reached 3.85 million barrels per day.