Iran to resume oil exports soon after removal of sanctions

Tehran, April 14, IRNA – Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran is to resume oil exports in a short time after the removal of sanctions. In a press conference on Tuesday, he said Iran is capable of resuming the volume of oil exports it used to have in pre-sanctions years only a few months after the removal of them. He also said that Iran is not to forsake its share in the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC). Despite sanctions and limited financial resources, the minister added, Iran has managed to launch five new phases of South Pars project. A total of 125 million cubic meters was also added to the country’s gas production capacity in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2013). He said the gas production capacity is to rise to 200 million cubic meters per day by the end of the current year (to end 20 March, 2015). According to the minister, phases 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the South Pars will be completed during the period with phases 19, 20 and 21 given their top priority among the ministry’s development projects. Zanganeh also stressed that his ministry has based all plannings on the assumption that sanctions will be in place, meaning that it is prepared for difficult conditions. He voiced Iran’s readiness to develop west Karoun oil field to produce 700 thousand barrels of oil in three years.