TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has estimated the country’s oil revenues to reach $41 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017).

Of course, setting this figure does not mean that the sum will be wholly collected by the mentioned date, Zanganeh said in an interview with IRIB news agency on Monday.

“We have collected part of our oil revenues for the first nine months of the current year and by the yearend there would be more payments which surely secure the next year’s budget,” he said.

According to the official, Iran has set a draft budget for the next year based on an oil price of $55 (per barrel) which would be reasonable considering the fact that OPEC and non-OPEC countries have already started production cuts since January 1.

“I believe most of the OPEC and non-OPEC participants will stay committed to the agreement and we will witness a much more stable and balanced market in the near future and subsequently higher oil prices,” he added.

“I believe the market is relatively stable for now and is of course moving in the right path,” Zanganeh noted.

EF/MA