Iran preparing to hike production to pre-sanctions levels within a month – NIOC official
London - (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – Iran's National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said Wednesday it has taken all the necessary measures and is ready for boosting oil output to pre-sanctions level within a month, a senior official with the company announced.
"Precise weekly, monthly and quarterly planning has been made to restore oil production to pre-sanctions level, and if sanctions are lifted, most of the country's oil production will be restored within a month," said Farrokh Alikhani, NIOC's deputy director for production affairs.
Alikhani further told reporters, "although we have estimated the time required for a full recovery to be three months, based on the plans and arrangements made, we anticipate reviving most of the targeted capacity within one month."
He further noted that NIOC plans are not limited to restoring previous production capacity, and in the second step plans will be made to increase production.
"The average daily production of Iranian oil before the re-imposition of sanctions was 3.38 million barrels per day, and the National Iranian Oil Company has planned to return to the pre-sanctions production in the first step if the sanctions are lifted, and in the next step to increase production capacity to more than four million barrels per day," Alikhani explained.
The final round of talks ahead of Iran's elections to reach a nuclear deal with Iran start in Vienna Wednesday, but doubts have been cast on a successful outcome.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Iran's nuclear program has been out of control after the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), while Iran's "nuclear breakout time" could narrow to weeks if not restrained.
Blinken followed up Tuesday saying, "I would anticipate that even in the event of a return to compliance with the JCPOA, hundreds of sanctions will remain in place."
