TEHRAN - Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji has said Iran recorded a 20 percent increase in oil and gas production in the previous Iranian calendar year 1402 (March 21, 2023- March 19, 2024), predicting a higher production this year.

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday Oji said: “We made a great investment in the Iranian year of 1402 in upstream and downstream sectors and we completed semi-finished projects worth $28 billion."

The oil minister added: “Last year, oil and gas production growth was more than 20 percent.”

He also said that oil-related products and petrochemicals also witnessed growth, too.

Owji further noted that to have an increase in production this year of 1403 in the Iranian calendar (beginning on March 21), "We have planned new investments and also for increasing production by finishing remaining uncompleted projects.”

 “We will try to set a new record [in production growth] this year that is even higher than last year’s 20 percent,” He emphasized.

The official further noted that semifinished projects worth more than $28 billion were completed in the previous year.

According to Oji, the completion of the projects led to a surge in production in oil, gas, refining, and petrochemical industries and the registration of economic growth of over 20 percent in the oil and gas sectors.

The Oil Ministry made effective investments all year long, said the top official, pointing out that new investments in partially finished oil projects have been included in a comprehensive plan to boost production this year.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced in its latest report that Iran produced 3.25 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March 2024, 20,000 bpd more than the previous month.

According to the EIA report, Iran’s oil production in February stood at 3.23 million bpd.

Iran has produced an average of 3.2 million barrels of oil per day in the first quarter of this year, based on the report.

Iran's oil production in the first quarter of this year has increased by 50,000 bpd compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year and by 630,000 barrels per day compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Iran produced 2.6 million bpd of oil in the first quarter of the previous year and 3.18 million bpd in the fourth quarter of the mentioned year.

With an increase of 630,000 barrels in oil production over the past year, Iran had the highest production rise among OPEC members, according to EIA.

Gabon, Nigeria, and Venezuela have been the only OPEC members to increase production over the past year. The production of Gabon increased by 10,000 bpd, Nigeria by 40,000 bpd, and Venezuela by 90,000 bpd.

OPEC oil production in the first quarter of last year was 27.380 million bpd, which has decreased by 720,000 barrels to 26.660 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Based on the EIA report, Iran maintained its position as the organization’s third oil producer in March.

EF/