TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said the country’s oil incomes in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) were 10 percent more than the target set in the national budget bill for the year, Shana reported on Monday.

“The government did not have a budget deficit in terms of oil revenues in [the Iranian calendar year] 1400,” Oji said.

The official stressed that Iran is not going to reveal the ways through which the country handles its oil exports.

According to Oji, based on the previous year’s national budget bill the government was supposed to realize 1.99 quadrillion rials (over $7.9 billion) of oil revenues by the yearend while the oil ministry managed to realize 10 percent more than the mentioned figure.

Back in March, Oji had said Iran’s oil exports were on the rise despite the U.S. sabotaging the country’s shipments.

"Iran's oil exports have risen under the toughest sanctions and without waiting for the outcome of the Vienna talks," said Oji on March 12.

The increase was thanks to "different methods used to win contracts and finding different buyers," the official added.

Tehran's oil exports have been limited since former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 exited the 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions. Iran views U.S. sanctions as illegal and has said it will make every effort to sidestep them.

The Islamic Republic’s oil exports rose to more than one million barrels per day (bpd) in February for the first time in almost three years, reflecting increased shipments to China.

Iran increased exports in 2021 despite the sanctions, according to estimates from oil industry consultants and analysts, but the shipments remained well below the 2.5 million bpd before sanctions were reintroduced.

Back in January, Head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said the country’s oil revenues have increased significantly over the past few months and the country has received the payment for all its crude oil sales since the new government administration.

“In the thirteenth government, part of the country’s lost oil markets has been revived and we have received the payment for all the oil we have sold so far,” Khojasteh-Mehr said.

According to the official, the private sector is also contributing greatly to the country’s current oil sales.

EF/MA