EMEA News
Iran: Market Share a Greater Priority than Price
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh Tuesday said that the country will focus on market share rather than price, as it looks to increase its crude exports by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) after the lifting of sanctions by foreign nations.
"We should not be worried about the price," he said at a press conference in Tehran.
"Those who have taken advantage of the absence of Iran to increase their production and have benefited should worry.
"We will not negotiate with OPEC to increase our production. We will only notify them when we adapt."
Officials expect the sanctions to be lifted in early in 2016, following a July agreement reached between Iran and a the so-called P5+1 countries.
An increase of 500,000 bpd would be a substantial rise in Iran's current oil exports, which are understood to be running at just over 1 million bpd, and will hit a chronically oversupplied market that has recently amassed record stockpiles of almost 3 billion barrels.
As Ship & Bunker has previously reported, Zanganeh says he expects the increased output to be achieved "within a day after the lifting of sanctions" and boosted to 1 million bpd within a few months.
However in his latest comments, Zanganeh suggested the 1 million bpd increase (taking the country back to its pre-sanctions output level) would now be achieved within a year.
Iran's crude oil production is currently just under 3 million bpd, and the country had been exporting up to 2.3 million bpd prior to sanctions being imposed in 2012.
Earlier this month, Iran said that it plans to formally announce its planned increase in exports at the next OPEC meeting, in December.
