A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. (RAHEB HOMAVANDI / REUTERS)
TEHRAN – A senior Iranian oil official said on Tuesday that Iran is engaged in "intensive negotiations" with old and new customers for increasing its oil exports, Shana News Agency affiliated to the Iranian oil ministry reported.
Oil exports have improved in recent months, but we are negotiating with new and old customers to develop the market.
Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr,
managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company
"Oil exports have improved in recent months, but we are negotiating with new and old customers to develop the market," said Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), on the sidelines of a national oil conference held in the capital Tehran.
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According to the NIOC's head, Iran's oil production capacity is projected to increase from the current 3.8 million barrels per day to 4 million barrels per day by March 2023.
Khojasteh-Mehr revealed that Russian teams have been deployed in Iranian oil and gas fields for studies which are expected to conclude by the end of November.
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Since Washington pulled out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018, Iran has been under US unilateral sanctions that mainly target the country's oil and banking sectors.