Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owzi claimed on Wednesday that the nation is producing 3.4 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil, about 1.2 million bpd greater than in mid-2021.
In latest months, Ouji has persistently reported oil manufacturing progress charges that contradict estimates from worldwide organizations.
OPEC and the International Energy Agency each put the nation’s crude oil manufacturing in September at 3.1 million barrels per day, however Ouge had claimed manufacturing for that month at 3.3 million tonnes per day.
A attainable purpose for Owuzi’s exaggerated claims is that whereas President Ebrahim Raisi’s authorities has repeatedly promised to revitalize the vitality trade, the general financial efficiency of the vitality trade stays dismal. . Annual inflation hovers round 50%, whereas governments race to print more cash. The nation’s forex, the rial, is close to a historic low of 520,000 rials to the US greenback.
Before the US imposed sanctions in 2018, Iran was producing about 3.8 million barrels of crude oil and 650,000 barrels of fuel condensate (very mild oil) per day. At that point, Iran withdrew from the Obama-era JCPOA nuclear deal and referred to as for “most strain on Tehran.”
Approximately 2.5 mb/day was exported and roughly 1.95 mb/day was consumed domestically, from the upper volumes earlier than sanctions. Domestic consumption now stands at 2.2 million tons per day because of the new section of operation of the Persian Gulf Star refinery, which refines fuel condensate.
How a lot oil does Iran produce?
Iran’s crude oil and fuel condensate exports totaled a mixed 1.812 million barrels per day in October, the best since 2019 and about 10,000 barrels per day greater than in September 2023, based on tanker monitoring information from commerce info agency Kpler. It elevated by 370,000 barrels. This was not attributable to a rise in manufacturing, however because of the sale of floating oil storage amenities.
Iran’s floating crude oil storage capability fell by 10 million barrels, or 322,000 barrels per day, throughout October. Iran exported 1.5 million barrels per day of surplus oil manufacturing and 322,000 barrels per day of frouting reserves.
Iran had roughly 60 million barrels of unsold floating crude oil and roughly 60 million barrels of fuel condensate saved in tankers as of mid-2022; It decreased to 10,000 barrels.
According to official oil ministry information obtained by Iran International, the nation’s 10 refineries at the moment eat about 17,500 barrels of crude oil and 450,000 barrels of fuel condensate (mixed to 22,000 barrels per day). are doing.
The nation produces 650,000 barrels of fuel condensate daily. There is an export surplus of 200,000 barrels per day.
If Mr. Owji’s declare is true and Iran produces 3.4 MB/day of crude oil, it ought to export 1.65 MB/day of surplus crude oil and 0.2 MB/day of fuel condensate.
However, as talked about above, the nation exported 1.812 million barrels of crude oil per day in October, together with roughly 322,000 barrels of floating crude oil gross sales.
Therefore, Iran had just one.5 million tons per day of surplus crude oil and fuel condensate accessible for export in October.
This signifies that oil manufacturing was in keeping with OPEC and IEA estimates and was round 3.1 megabytes per day, somewhat than the three.4 megabytes per day claimed by Ouge.
According to Kupler, Iran nonetheless has 26 million barrels of floating oil storage that it plans to promote.