TEHRAN- Iran’s crude oil production stood at 2.567 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, 8,000 bpd less than the figure for the previous month, according to OPEC’s latest monthly report.

According to OPEC data, daily production by the members of the organization also decreased by 86,000 bpd in the said month in comparison to February.

In the third month of the current year, the price of Iranian heavy crude oil registered a 3.8 percent decline to stand at $78.8 per barrel.

According to the report, the country’s average heavy crude price was $80.67 from the beginning of 2023 up to the report’s publishing day, in comparison to $97.55 in the previous year’s same period.

OPEC Basket prices also fell 4.2 percent or $3.43 to $78.45 a barrel in March.

Iran’s oil production in 2022 increased by seven percent compared to the previous year, according to OPEC’s first monthly report released in 2023.

Based on the OPEC data, the Islamic Republic produced 2.554 million bpd of crude oil in 2022, 162,000 bpd more than the figure for 2021, when the output stood at 2.392 million bpd.

Citing secondary sources, the report put Iranian crude output for December 2022 at 2.574 million bpd indicating a 9,000-bpd increase compared to the figure for November.

The country’s heavy crude oil price also increased by $30.12 in 2022 to register a 43-percent rise compared to the previous year, according to OPEC.

Iran sold its heavy crude oil at $99.92 per barrel on average in the mentioned year, compared to 2021 when the average price was $69.8 per barrel.

In the last month of 2022, the average price of Iranian heavy oil was reported to be $79.11, which has decreased by $9.62 compared to the previous month.

EF/MA