Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh
For full coverage of business developments in Iran and the Middle East, see MEED
Iran aims to increase oil output by 500,000 barrel a day (b/d) immediately after the relaxation of international sanctions, which could happen by the end of December, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh today told reporters in Vienna ahead of an OPEC meeting to be held in the Austrian capital on 4 December.
“Following the latest report of director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano on Iran’s nuclear activities, it is expected that Iran will add 500,000 b/d to its oil production by the end of the current (Christian) year or early January,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the official Irna newsagency.
Production would be lifted by a 500,000 b/d soon after, he added.
‘We will hold no talks on rising our production or returning to the previous level of production,’ Zanganeh was quoted as saying.
Zanganeh was speaking following the publication yesterday of the IAEA’s assessment of Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the associated nuclear roadmap signed in July by China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US and the Islamic Republic. It said Iran had adhered to the schedule in the roadmap and demonstrated that it stopped any activities connected with the possible development of a nuclear weapon after 2009.
The assessment is expected to be approved the IAEA’s 35-member board of governors on 15 December.
This will automatically trigger Implementation Day, the moment when US, UN and EU sanctions will be lifted. These include an embargo on Iranian oil purchases by EU and other countries.