U.S. senators and Western media have confirmed the increase in Iran’s oil production and exports despite sanctions over the past two years, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji has said.
Production and exports of oil products and gas condensates are on the rise thanks to the unflinching efforts of the Oil Ministry’s staff, Shana quoted the minister as saying.
The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) registered 19.8 percent and 16.4 percent economic growth for the domestic oil and gas industry in spring 2023, respectively, revealing the great efforts made in upstream and downstream sectors, the minister noted.
Back in September, Bloomberg had reported that Iran’s oil exports continued their upward trend in August to reach 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd).
Citing TankerTrackers.com which provides data on oil cargoes to governments, insurers and other institutions, the report noted that the increase in Iranian shipments comes in the same month that key OPEC+ producers Saudi Arabia and Russia kept a lid on their own oil exports in a bid to tighten the market, the report said.
According to the TankerTrackers data, Iranian crude exports topped two million barrels a day in the first 20 days of August, the highest this year.
Iran has been steadily ramping up its oil production and exports this year, finding buyers for its supplies in Asia. The country’s production is now at the highest level since a ban on its exports kicked in five years ago, with U.S. officials privately acknowledging they’ve gradually relaxed enforcement on some of the measures.