Official:

NISOC Ready to Resume Pre-Sanctions Oil Output Levels

Date: 18 January 2021 - 21:17

News ID: ۸۶۶۶۶

TEHRAN (Dispatches) - The CEO of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) Ahmad Muhammadi has said that crude output in the country can be restored to levels recorded before the U.S. sanctions were imposed on the country in 2018 only in a matter of a single day.
"Iran is ready to lift its mandatory reduction in oil output to bring production to 95 percent of the pre-sanction levels within one single day,” said Muhammadi.
The Iranian government has announced it would be able to produce and sell 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and condensates in the next calendar year starting March regardless of what happens to the future of relations with the United States where a new administration is taking office this week.
However, some believe Iran’s exports of oil could exceed 4 million bpd if sanctions imposed by the incumbent Donald Trump start to ease after Joe Biden takes over as U.S. president.
NISOC, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), is responsible for oil operations at areas in southern Iran that account for more than 80 percent of the country’s total output.
Muhammadi said various projects have been introduced in southern oil producing regions to maintain production facilities at a good condition despite the reduced output.
"(We) will ramp up the level and capacity of production in the NISOC to meet the objectives of the Oil Ministry and the NIOC in any timeframe they choose,” Muhammadi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
Reports in recent months have suggested that Iran’s exports of crude started to increase as of March as the country managed to find ways round the U.S. sanctions to supply its oil to major customers in Asia.
Various estimates show that shipments have increased to up to 1.5 million bpd in recent months, up from below 0.5 million bpd reported after Washington toughened its oil sanctions against Iran in May 2019.
Meanwhile on Monday, Secretary of Iranian Oil Industry Equipment Manufacturers Association Ali Panahi said that more than 85 percent of oil industry parts and equipment are presently manufactured domestically by expert engineers.
Panahi said and put the number of companies affiliated to the Iranian Oil Industry Equipment Manufacturers Association at 820.
Of the total 820 companies, 182 of which are knowledge-based companies, he said, adding, "These companies have totally generated 80,000 and 250,000 direct and indirect employments respectively.”
Given the high capability of these companies, the capacity of manufacturing oil industry equipment is estimated at €5 billion, he added.
He went on to say that 47 and 11 percent of these companies are based in Tehran and Khuzestan provinces respectively while the rest are in other provinces of the country.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Panahi pointed to the cooperation of the Association with Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology to organize knowledge-based companies active in this field and added, "With the coordination made in this regard, 100 other knowledge-based firms will take membership at the Association in the next year (to start Mar. 21) provided that the country would be able to contain the adverse effects of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which has created serious problems for economic activity of the country.”