TEHRAN – Iran sold light crude oil at $61.85 per barrel on average in the week ended on June 12, a 63 cents rise compared to its preceding week.  

The country sold heavy crude oil at $59.96 per barrel on average in the mentioned week, showing 54 cents growth compared to its previous week, according to the Shana News Agency. 

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s basket price stood at $61.8 in the mentioned week, with 60 cents growth from its preceding week.

Iran was the third leading producer within the OPEC in May, outpacing the United Arab Emirates, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report. 

Iran produced 2.845 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in May, the report said, ranking Iran next to Saudi Arabia and Iraq at the third place. 

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that Iran’s oil production could be lifted by one million barrels per day within half a year of Western sanctions being lifted.  

The country currently exports 1.3 million bpd, against 2.2 million bpd before the sanctions were imposed about one decade ago. 

With holding 157 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserves, Iran possesses the world’s fourth largest crude oil reserves. 

MA