Iran Oil Minister Denies Claims of “Massive Discounts” on Oil

Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji has struck back at allegations that the government has been discounting the price of the oil it exports, saying discounts under the current government were in fact smaller than those during the previous administration.

The allegations came from two presidential candidates who said the government was essentially giving away Iran’s crude, according to a report by bne Intellinews that cited information from the Islamic Republic News Agency.

“We did not sell oil at massive discounts under this government, and I refute the recent claims made about this,” Owji told media, also saying that “The current government has been able to increase oil sales by using innovative methods such as utilizing the capacity of overseas refineries.”

In a separate report, IRNA quoted Owji as saying that during the Raisi administration, Iran had boosted its oil production from 2.2 million barrels daily to 3.6 million barrels daily, planned to be expanded further to 4 million barrels daily by the end of the current Iranian year.

Last week, Owji also told the media that over the past three years, Iran had increased its crude oil production by 1.4 million barrels per day. During this period, the government launched 150 oil industry projects, worth a total of $34 billion, according to the minister’s remarks from a few days ago carried by the news service Shana.

The oil industry grew by 20% last year, the highest growth rate of any Iranian sector of the economy, Owji also said last week, adding that “With the measures that have been taken in President Raisi’s government in the field of the oil industry, I should announce that any government that comes to power in the US cannot prevent the export and production of Iranian oil.”

Iran is holding presidential elections this Friday, after the death of President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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