Baku, Azerbaijan, May 13
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Iran's daily oil production average hit a new record both in the current year and since 2013.
According a new report, released by OPEC, Iran produced 2.824 million barrels of crude oil, the highest level in 2015.
According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production averaged 30.84 mb/d in April, an increase of 18,000 b/d over the previous month. However, OPEC estimated that the demand for OPEC crude in 2015 is expected at 29.3 mb/d. Therefore, 12 members of OPEC produced above 1.5 mb/d of oil more than demand in April.
On the other hand, the report says that the OPEC Reference Basket rose in April to its highest value this year supported by various bullish factors. The Basket increased $4.84 to $57.30/b.
According to OPEC website, the oil prices has continued to rise in current month to about $65 until May 6, but then it faced fluctuations. The latest updated figures indicate that OPEC Reference Basket price stood at $62.03 on May 11.
The report says also that Iraq's oil production level increased by about 47 tb/d in April to 3.671 mb/d. This figure is the highest level since 1990s. Iran announced earlier that the country's crude oil production to increase 500 tb/d as soon as the western sanctions on Iran be eliminated.
Iran's oil output was about 3.7 mb/d in 2011, but it has decreased due to western sanctions imposed on Iran in mid-2012.
Iran and P5+1 are negotiating to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal to pave the way for elimination of sanctions by June 30.
Edited by CN