Baku, Azerbaijan, March 4
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Low crude oil exports have put Iran's economy in a tough situation, the Tasnim News agency quoted Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying on March 4.
Currently, the country exports some one million barrels of oil per day, he said.
Intensified sanctions dropped the country's oil exports to a minimum level, the minister added.
He expressed hope that selling crude oil by the country would be stopped in the next four to five years through expanding petrochemical exports.
On Feb. 17, Zanganeh said that the country's oil and condensate exports have increased by 25 percent in recent months.
According to the report, he said that there was five to six million barrels of unsold oil on tankers which prevents an increase in oil output.
According to the latest report of International Energy Agency published on Feb.13 says that the country's oil exports reached 1.32 million barrels per day in January.
Iran had an estimated 30 million barrels of crude held on tankers at the end of January, including 6 million barrels in vessels offChina's coast, according to the report.
Iran exported averagely 1.07 million barrels of oil and condensate a day during 2013, IEA reports indicate.
Iran's Custom Administration latest report, published on Feb.10 indicates that the country's condensate exports have increased by some 272.97 percent during the last three Iranian calendar months (October 23, 2013- January 20, 2014) compared to the previous months of the current year, which started on March 21, 2013.
Iran has exported $4.594 billion worth of condensates in the last three Iranian calendar months with an average monthly value of $1.531 billion.
Edited by C.N.