Baku, Azerbaijan, July 15
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran started negotiating with its European and Asian oil customers long ago to return to the international markets, Mohsen Qamsari, director of the international affairs department at National Iranian Oil Company said.
"We are waiting for the sanctions to be lifted in order to resume exports and production at pre-sanction levels," Iran 's Fars news agency quoted Qamsari as saying July 15.
"We should wait and see whether the P5+1 group is committed to its obligations in regard to lifting of the sanctions."
"Anyway, we are ready to increase the volume of exports to European and Asian customers. However, there is no specific timetable for that," he said.
Qamsari said on July 14 that although lifting of sanctions will lead to a rise in Iran's oil exports, prices would fall consequently. Therefore, Iran's oil revenues will hit $28 billion in the best case, and $25 billion in the worst case.
"During the years of sanctions, we managed to overhaul storage facilities and installations, and now we are ready to boost production and export," he said.
Western sanctions have cut Iran 's oil exports by more than half to about 1.1 million bpd from a pre-2012 level of 2.5 million bpd.
In April, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said it would take just a few months for the country to increase its oil production to pre-sanction levels.
Zanganeh has set an output target of 5.7 million bpd of crude oil by 2018.
He presented his 11 OPEC counterparts with a letter at their meeting last month saying they should prepare for Iran's return.
Edited by CN