TEHRAN - Iran’s parliament has decided to raise its forecast for oil sales and price in the upcoming financial year that starts in March amid the inclusion of barter deals for its crude, ISNA quoted a parliamentary official as saying.
Iran’s parliament forecast sales of 1.4 million b/d based on a $70/b price, up from the previous estimate of 1.2 million b/d based on a $60/b price, spokesman of the parliament’s presiding board Nezameddin Mousavi was quoted as saying by ISNA.
The lawmakers’ decision came after the oil ministry gave assurances that it can export more than the 1.2 million b/d proposed in the government’s bill, he said.
The lawmakers have counted on barter deals in the new estimated figure in the financial year that starts on March 21, members of parliament noted in their budget bill discussions.
Due to a decrease in forecast government revenue in next year’s budget, the parliament decided to raise its oil sales estimate to 1.4 million b/d, Hamidreza Hajibabaee, head of the budget examination commission of the parliament, said.
If the government was able to export more than 1.2 million b/d, the rest can be sold through barter deals, he added.
The OPEC member has vowed to raise its oil output to the pre-sanctions level of 4 million b/d by late March.
Iran, which is exempt from OPEC production quotas, pumped 2.52 million b/d in January, according to the latest Platts OPEC+ survey.