Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.11/ Trend F.Milad/
Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ahmad Qalehbani has rejected the news published by some western media about a 30 fall in Iran's oil output, saying that Iran's oil output stands currently at around 4 million barrels per day.
Ahmad Qalehbani said at a press conference in Tehran on Wednesday that some oil wells have stopped producing due to the fact that they were under maintenance, Mehr News Agency reported.
On June 27, Reuters quoted NIOC official Mohammad Ali Emadi as saying that oil exports have fallen sharply, down 20-30 percent from normal volumes of 2.2 million barrels daily.
"It was 20 to 30 percent we reduce regarding to our export," Mohammad Ali Emadi said. "Some part of the reduction is shifting for the refinery internally."
Customers in Europe and Asia have been scaling back purchases of Iranian crude ahead of European Union bans on imports and tanker insurance for ships carrying Iranian crude that are due to come into effect on July 1.
Emadi said Iran's normal crude exports were 2.2 million bpd, in line with external estimates. A 20-30 percent fall would put Iranian exports at 1.54-1.76 million bpd, off 440,000-660,000 bpd.