CNN’s John Defterios has just returned from Iran’s oilfields
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Iran has an aggressive plan to lift oil production following the relaxation of nuclear-related sanctions and aims to increase output by 1.5m barrrels a day (b/d) by the end of the year, CNN’s John Defterios has reported following a recent visit to the Islamic Republic.
“As soon as sanctions are lifted, Iran will ramp up production by half a million barrels a day immediately, adding another half million by the start of Iran’s fiscal year in March. A further half million barrels will follow by the end of 2016,” he wrote in an article published on CNN’s website.
CNN said it was the first foreign TV crew allowed into Iran’s largest oil find in 30 years, in the marshlands of what was a battleground in the 1980s war with Iraq.
“Crews are working flat out, hoping to quadruple production in the West Quroon region to a hefty 700,000 barrels a day in 2020, from just 160,000 today,” Defterios wrote. “West Quroon makes up more than a third of Iran’s proven reserves of 157 billion barrels, the fourth largest in the world.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh says that Iran wants oil production and exports to return to the level before the intensification of sanctions in 2012. Analysts say that they believe Iran will only be able to lift production by about 500,000 b/d in 2016.