TEHRAN - Iran says it will not accept any limit to its exports of oil when the situation normalizes with the removal of the most draconian U.S. sanctions on the country.
Tehran is facing a race against time to reclaim its standing in the global energy market as producers plan to ramp up oil production through the end of 2022. President Ebrahim Raisi, who took office on Thursday, has said that he will seek to lift the “tyrannical sanctions imposed by America”.
Negotiations in Vienna to bring the U.S. back to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran have been suspended since mid-June. Iran’s traditional customers are watching the talks with interest and some companies are said to have held discussions to resume purchases.
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said last month that some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were concerned about how a return of Iranian barrels to the market would affect the prices.
Zanganeh said he told an OPEC+ meeting on July 18 that Iran would not hesitate to fully regain its market share once the sanctions were removed.
On Thursday, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, reiterated the stance.
“Iran has always been an active and important founding member of the OPEC and we will continue our positive role in the Organization. However, we have always said that Iran will not accept any limitation on its oil production and export’ level when the situation is normalized,” he tweeted.
Iran has always been an active and important founding member of the OPEC and we will continue our positive role in the Organization. However, we have always said that Iran will not accept any limitation on its oil production and export’ level when the situation is normalized. 1
His remarks came in response to his Russian counterpart Mikhail Ulyanov’s tweet that hoped after the removal of the sanctions, “Iran will join efforts of OPEC+ to maintain the oil market stability”.
In their meeting, OPEC and its Russia-led oil-producing allies agreed to unleash millions of barrels of bottled-up crude that would see oil output return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022. Under the deal, oil producers would ramp up production by 400,000 barrels per day every month.
Iran has been exempt from cuts to global supply agreed between OPEC and non-OPEC members in recent years in order to shore up prices.
Petroleum ministry officials have said a removal of the sanctions could bring back 3.8 million barrels per day of Iranian oil to the market over time. They are confident of the country’s ability to increase production quickly. One senior official said recently that most output could be restored within a month.
Energy groups say the global oil market is able to absorb the additional supply relatively quickly, given rising demand for fuel as global economic activity recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zangeneh Voices Iran Full Readiness to Return to Oil Market

In a Friday meeting with Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh announced the country’s full technical readiness to return to the global crude oil markets at the highest level after the political agreement and the lifting of the sanctions.
Zangeneh said that after the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) back in May 2018, Iran lost about 2 billion barrels of oil exports, an equivalent of roughly $120 billion.
Noting that OPEC is the only third world economic organization influential in world economic interactions, he said: “The key concept that OPEC has been able to act on and succeed has been cooperation while competing and political differences, as we saw in the recent meeting and dispute between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”
For his part, the OPEC Secretary General praised Zangeneh’s work and actions during his tenure, and said that all OPEC ministers remembered him well, adding: “We hope that Iran will continue its key and important role in OPEC and the oil market.”
Addressing Zangeneh, he said: “You are a valuable asset for Iran and you have done well in these four decades due to the difficult conditions in Iran. OPEC will always remain your home.”