Iran’s Crude Oil Production Jacked up Says Iran’s Oil Ministry

Despite facing sanctions, Iran has managed to ramp up its crude oil production significantly, according to the country's oil minister, Javad Owji. Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, Owji revealed that Iran's crude production has reached 3.4 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase from the 2.2 million b/d at the beginning of the current government's tenure.

Request Access To The Latest Price Trends of Crude Oil

This latest production figure not only represents a substantial 100,000 b/d increase from Owji's previous estimate in late August but also marks an ascent of over 300,000 b/d from the 3.07 million b/d reported in early July. Although Owji had previously anticipated this rise to 3.4 million b/d by late September, the achievement still stands as a significant milestone.

Iran's crude production was estimated at 3.2 million b/d in September, maintaining the level of August but showing a notable increase from the 2.57 million b/d estimated in January. This growth of more than 800,000 b/d since the start of the year is remarkable, considering that U.S. economic sanctions had once restricted Iran's crude exports to merely 400,000-500,000 b/d. Before the imposition of sanctions, Iran was exporting around 2.3 million b/d.

The boost in production has been primarily supported by robust demand for Iranian crude from China and sanctioned allies like Venezuela and Syria. As per a data source, Iranian crude exports were at 1.25 million b/d in September, slightly down from 1.33 million b/d in August but still considerably higher than the first-quarter average of just over 940,000 b/d.

Read More About Crude Oil Production Cost Reports - Get Free Sample Copy in PDF

Looking ahead, Owji expressed optimism about further production increases in the coming months. This optimism is based on a series of projects nearing completion, although he did not specify which projects. Some of these are fields that Iran shares with neighboring countries. He also mentioned that the government aims to bring $15 billion of upstream investments into operation by the end of the current Iranian year, which concludes on 20 March 2024.

According to the article by Procurement Resource, J-Power, a Japanese power producer, plans to shut down its 1GW Matsushima coal-fired plant in Nagasaki by March 2025, aligning with its decarbonization goals. The company will dismantle the 500MW No.1 unit and upgrade the 500MW No.2 unit, integrating a new 180MW IGCC unit, improving efficiency. The upgraded unit will have enhanced thermal efficiency and may later incorporate biomass and ammonia co-firing. J-Power also considers using blue hydrogen. The company targets a 19% CO2 reduction by 2025-26 and carbon neutrality by 2050.