BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Iran intends to develop the oil and gas sectors to the maximum under the sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said, Trend reports citing Shana News Agency.
Owji made the remark at the 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition being held in Tehran.
According to him, in this direction, Iran has increased and continues to increase cooperation with many countries, including Russian companies.
The minister noted that at the same time, despite the sanctions of the US and Western countries, Iran has doubled its oil exports.
Owji also said that currently Iran's total production of crude oil is 154 billion barrels, and gas production - 33 trillion cubic meters.
According to him, Iran presently produces over three million barrels of crude oil and more than one billion cubic meters of gas per day.
"The processing potential of Iran's oil refineries is 2.4 million barrels per day, and manufacturing volume of petrochemical products in the country is 95 million tons per year," he said.
The minister added that from March 21, 2022 through March 20, 2023, oil plants, fields, and others worth more than $12 billion were commissioned in the oil and gas sector in Iran.
The imposition of sanctions on Iran by the US and Western countries seriously hinders the country’s crude oil exports. After 2018, Iran's crude oil exports were reported to be less than 500,000 barrels per day. Meanwhile, the current government of Iran (which has been in power since August 2021) stressed that Iran’s crude oil exports are increasing.
According to OPEC's report, Iran produced an average of over 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in March 2023. This is a decrease of eight percent compared to February, 2023. Meanwhile, Iranian official statistics say the country has been producing over three million barrels a day from August 2021 to this day.
There are currently 74 active oil and 22 active gas fields in Iran. So, 37 oil fields are operating in the territory of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC), 14 fields – Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC), 5 fields – Arvandan Oil and Gas Company (AOGC), and 18 oil fields – Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC).
In addition, five gas fields are operating in the territory of the NISOC, 13 fields – the ICOFC, one field – Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), and three gas fields – the IOOC.