Iran will raise its oil production capacity to over 4 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the current Iranian year that ends in March 2023, the chief executive officer of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) told local news agency IRNA on Friday.
Iran's current production capacity stands at 3.838 million bpd, Mohsen Khojastehmehr told IRNA. The top executive at the Iranian oil firm said that the Islamic Republic would ramp up its oil production capacity by 200,000 bpd by March 2023, when the current Iranian year ends. By then, Iran aims to have its production capacity topping 4 million bpd, at 4.038 million bpd, NIOC's chief executive said.
Thanks to increased production capacity, Iran could boost oil exports if international markets need it, Khojastehmehr was quoted as saying.
Per OPEC's secondary sources in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), Iran pumped 2.558 million bpd of oil in July, down by 11,000 bpd from June. Iran itself doesn't share its oil production or export numbers, but it is believed to have stashed crude oil in floating storage, waiting for an eventual lifting of the U.S. sanctions on its industry with a possible nuclear deal.
Iran has been preparing to ramp up production and production capacity for several months after talks on the so-called Iranian nuclear deal entered a final stage.
However, in the latest twist in talks and final draft amendments, Iran sent its written response early on Friday to what could be a final draft of a possible deal, although it didn't reveal, again, what the response was.
The U.S. confirmed it had received the Iranian response via EU mediators, but dismissed the Iranian suggestions as "not constructive."
"We are studying it and will respond through the EU, but unfortunately it is not constructive," the U.S. Department of the State said. The U.S. didn't reveal details of the response, either.
"Based on their answer, we appear to be moving backwards," a senior official at the Biden Administration told POLITICO on Thursday evening.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More