EMEA News
Iran Hits Post Sanctions Oil Export High of 2.44 Million bpd, Closing in on 4 Million bpd Output
Iran has frequently stated that it will consider joining any global initiative to curb oil production only when its own output reaches pre-sanction levels; and if new figures announced by its oil minister and other parties is indication, that day has all but arrived.
Bijan Zanganeh told the Mehr news agency that "Oil exports reached 2.44 million barrels per day (bpd) in late October, one of the highest levels ever."
Customers in Asia were said to have accounted for 1.74 million bpd of the October total, with Europe buying up the 700,000 bpd balance.
The news coincides with Ali Kardor, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) reporting on Monday that the Islamic republic's output is nearing the 4 million bpd mark.
Prior to the international sanctions imposed in 2011, Iran exported over 2.6 million bpd and produced 4.3 billion bpd of crude.
Additionally, Zanganeh stated that his country is exporting a daily average of 20 million liters of gas oil: "Iran is currently considered as an exporter of all petroleum products except for gasoline, the issue of which will be resolved by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 20)."
The minister went on to say that an expansion of technology, knowledge-based activities, as well as cooperation with universities plus the relative reduction in consumption of gasoline have enabled Iran to transform from a gas oil importer into an exporter "without putting any major refineries into operation."
However, there seems to be little indication that Iran will do anything other than stay on its course of expansion: Kardor told Shana news agency that working in the oil industry "is like operating at war fronts, and we have to preserve our trenches by raising our production capacity as much as we can.
"The next OPEC [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] meeting is near, and we will never cease to recapture our quota in the organization."
Moreover, despite OPEC members paying lip service to the notion that a production cutback is vital in rebalancing the market as well as alleviating the economic stress full-tilt production at dismal market prices is causing many countries, the cartel has reportedly granted Iran an exemption from the planned cuts, as long as it keeps production to levels "that make sense."
Strictly in terms of its ability to negotiate with outsiders, Iran's effort to reestablish itself on the international market is impressive, and arguably its biggest move came in July, when it announced it was in talks with Japan's Mitsui Chemicals and France's Total SA to attract $60 billion in foreign investment.
