TEHRAN - Iran produced 3.226 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in May, registering a 7,000 bpd increase compared to the previous month, according to OPEC’s latest monthly report.

Based on secondary sources, Iran produced 3.219 million bpd of crude oil in April, the report said.

The Islamic Republic’s average crude output for the first quarter of 2024 stood at 3.177 million bpd indicating a 23,000 bpd increase compared to the figure for the fourth quarter of 2023, the report said.

The report put the average Iranian crude output for 2022 at 2.554 million bpd, while the average output in 2023 was 2.859 million bpd.

These statistics show that the Islamic Republic has maintained its place as the third-largest oil producer among the OPEC members.

The country’s heavy crude oil price stood at $84.13 in May, registering a 5.2 percent decline compared to the previous month, according to the OPEC report.

 Iran sold its heavy crude oil at $88.79 per barrel in March.

The country’s average heavy crude price was $83.41 since the beginning of 2024 up to the report’s publishing date, in comparison to $80.46 in the previous year’s same period.

Earlier in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that Iran's oil production in 2023 saw an increase of 500,000 bpd in comparison to the previous year, reaching 3.1 million bpd.

According to the IMF data, the oil sector of Iran's economy recorded a noteworthy growth of 15 percent in 2023. Over the three years of late President Ebrahim Raisi’s tenure, this sector experienced a double-digit growth; therefore, the oil sector saw 10.1 percent, 10 percent, and 15 percent growth respectively in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

It is predicted that Iran's oil production will increase by another 100,000 bpd, reaching 3.2 million bpd in 2024.

Iran's gas production also increased from the equivalent of 4.8 million barrels of oil per day in 2022 to the equivalent of 5.1 million bpd in 2023. According to IMF, the figure is expected to rise by 300,000 bpd to reach the equivalent of 5.4 million bpd in 2024.

Iran exported 1.4 million barrels of oil per day in 2023, indicating an increase of 500,000 barrels compared to its oil export data in the previous year, and it is expected that in the current year, an additional 100,000 barrels would be added to Iran's oil exports, reaching 1.5 million bpd.

EF/