TEHRAN - The Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji has said the country plans to increase its daily crude production to 4.0 million barrels per day (bpd) by late March 2025 and the preparations for the mentioned increase are currently underway, IRNA reported.

According to the minister, the 13th government administration started the movement to increase the country’s oil output with the aim of boosting the country’s economic growth to 8.0 percent.

Oji said that the late President Ebrahim Raisi administration has already managed to increase oil production from 2.2 to 3.6 million bpd and is now planning to increase the daily output to 4.0 million barrels by the end of the current Iranian year, which falls on March 20, 2025.

The administration also increased the annual gas production by 53 million cubic meters, which marked a 5.0 percent growth, he added.

Oji emphasized that the export value of Iran's oil, gas condensates, and other petroleum and petrochemical products increased from $10.8 billion in 2018 to $36 billion in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19, 2024). In other words, the country’s oil revenue has grown 3.5 times.

Gas extraction from the South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar, has increased as well, he said, adding that Iran’s extraction is 75 to 100 million cubic meters higher.

According to the minister, Iran’s annual petrochemical production has now reached 100 million metric tons following a 10-percent growth.

Earlier this month, Oji said that Iran is currently exporting crude oil to 17 countries, including some in Europe.

Iran will not face any problem in exporting oil no matter who comes to power in the U.S., Oji stressed.

Speaking at a ceremony on July 3, he stated that good investment has been made in the past three years in the oil industry.

He went on to say that Iran’s oil exports rose from 182 million barrels in 2019 to 565 million barrels last year.

Iran has risen to become the fourth largest oil exporter within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to a surge in oil production and sales.

Iran's oil and gas condensate exports have now reached their highest level since 2018, when the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and introduced tough economic sanctions against the country, targeting its oil sales in particular, according to a report by Vortexa, which provides data on the global energy sector.

The report emphasized that Iran's oil and gas condensate exports now account for 9% of OPEC's total crude oil and gas condensate exports.

Iran exported 1.56 million barrels of oil per day from January to May of this year, 250,000 bpd more than Kuwait and Nigeria. This has elevated Iran's ranking to the fourth spot among OPEC's largest crude oil exporters.

Despite Western sanctions, Iran managed to increase its crude oil and gas exports to 1.7 million bpd in May, the highest level in the past five years.

The report cited the rise in Chinese oil demand and the expansion of Iran's oil tanker fleet as the main factors contributing to the surge in Iran's oil exports.

EF/MA