TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency)-- In the past seven months of the current Iranian calendar year of 1382 (started March 21, 2003) Iran has exported over 148 million barrels of crude oil, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) reported here Tuesday.

The exported crude oil has been extracted from oilfields belonging to Iranian Continental Shelf Oil Company (ICSOC), which is one of the state-run NIOC’s subsidiaries.

NIOC said that the company's production of crude oil over a period of one month from September 23, 2003 stood at over 21 million barrels.

The Persian Gulf oil regions of Kharq, Lavan, Siri, and Behregan claim for production of 10, 3, 4, and 3 million barrels of oil, respectively.

The NIOC report added that it had completed studies over a project to collect gas in Sirri and Behregan region and that the contractor to implement land installation of the projects is under negotiation. AF/IS END MNA