TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji has said that over the past three years since the late President Raisi’s government took office the sanctions on the exports of gas condensate have been neutralized, Shana reported.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Oji said although there is no obstacle in the way of gas condensate exports but the country no longer needs to export its condensate since it can be used as the feed for petrochemical complexes.

“Now, due to the increase in refining capacity in petrochemical complexes, refineries and the completion of 37 small-scale oil refineries, Iran no longer needs to export gas condensates and turns all these condensates into added value inside the country,” Oji said.

“At the beginning of the government tenure, we had more than 87 million barrels of gas condensate and 20 million barrels of heavy and extra-heavy crude oil in offshore storages. If this issue was not managed by the government, it could create many challenges for the country in the cold season, at the same time, it should not be forgotten that the maintenance of these storages cost the country 465 million dollars annually,” he added.

Pointing out that the country’s oil production which stood at 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) at the beginning of the 13th government has now reached 3.6 million bpd due to the efforts of the oil industry employees, he stated: “Every 100,000 barrels per day of increases in oil production earns more than 2.7 billion dollars for the country every year.”

Oji attributed the completion of semi-finished projects in the last three years, such as the second phase of the Abadan refinery, and the phase 11 and phase 14 of South Pars gas field, to the efforts of the hardworking employees of the oil industry and said: "Over the last three years, 16 million cubic meters of associated gases have also been collected and this figure will reach 30 million cubic meters by the end of the [current Iranian calendar] year (late March 2025).”

EF/MA