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Iran plans to explore for 400 million barrels of oil reserves annually

Iran Materials 26 May 2014 15:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iran plans to explore for 400 million barrels of new oil reserves annually, said the statement from National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Hormoz Qalavand, NIOC's director for exploration, said the company also plans also to explore for 132 million cubic meters of new gas reserves per year, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on May 26.

"NIOC has placed the top priority on discovering new oil and gas deposits at joint fields," he added.

Iran has 28 hydrocarbon fields, which are shared with Kuwait, Qatar, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkmenistan.

On April 6, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran forecasts an increase in its crude oil and natural gas production in the current Iranian calendar year.

"Iran's crude oil output is forecast to increase by about 200,000 barrels per day to 4 million barrels per day, and its daily natural gas output is forecast to increase by about 100 million cubic meters per day to 400 million cubic meters per day," the minister explained.

By holding 157 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves, Iran possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of crude oil.

An interim accord easing restrictions on insurance for Iran's oil shipments and freeing up cash held outside the country in return for a suspension of nuclear work went into effect in January. Under the agreement, six buyers permitted under U.S. sanctions to take Iranian crude don't have to cut imports to avoid penalties.

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