Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 22 / Trend D.Khatinoglu/
Iran exported approximately 2.2 million bbl/d of crude oil in 2010. Iranian Heavy Crude Oil is Iran's largest crude export followed by Iranian Light. In 2010, Iran's net oil export revenues amounted to approximately $73 billion, the U.S. Information Energy Administration reported.
Oil exports provide half the government revenues, while crude oil and its derivatives account for nearly 80 per cent of total exports.
According to EIA statistics, China remains Iran's major oil importer. This is based on a six-month data compilation (end of June 2011), which shows China, India, South Korea, and Turkey as having increased their imports of Iranian crude oil so far this year.
At the same time Iran's export volumes to Italy and the UK have decreased at least in part due to sanctions imposed on the Iranian energy sector.
|
Iran's top export destinations, 2010 |
||
|
Country |
000 bbl/d |
Share of total (percent) |
|
China |
426 |
20 |
|
Japan |
362 |
17 |
|
India |
345 |
16 |
|
Italy |
208 |
10 |
|
South Korea |
203 |
9 |
|
Other |
610 |
28 |
|
Total exports |
2,154 |
100 |
Statistics from January to June 2011 indicate that Iran exported 450,000 b/d to Europe Union, 341,000 to Japan, 328,000 to India, 244,000 to South Korea, 182,000 to Turkey and 543,000 to China.
Iran exports Sri Lanka, Taiwan and South Africa about 170,000 barrels per day totally.
Iran's major crude importers in EU are Italy with 183 thousand b/d and Spain with 137 thousand b/d in average.
Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. In 2010, the country produced approximately four million barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) of total liquids, of which is roughly 3.7 million bbl/d was crude oil, equal to about five per cent of global production.
According to EIA statistics, thus far in 2011, it is estimated that Iran's crude production has been approximately 3.6-3.65 million bbl/d, still above its former OPEC production target of 3.34 million bbl/d. Currently its largest producing field is the onshore Ahvaz field, followed by the Maroun field, both located in Khuzestan province.
According to the report, an estimated 400,000-700,000 bbl/d of crude production is lost annually due to declines in the mature oil fields. To offset natural decline rates, Iran's oil fields require structural upgrades including enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques such as natural gas injection, which has put even greater strain on energy supply due to rising demand for natural gas domestically.