An offshore oil platform operated by the National Iranian Offshore Oil Co., near Lavan Island, Iran.
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi / Bloomberg
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi / Bloomberg
Iranian energy companies have signed deals worth $ 1.2 billion to increase the country’s oil production, state-run National Iranian Oil Co.
The signatures were initially intended for Monday in Tehran in the presence of Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, but have been delayed, NIOC said in a statement. The company has not disclosed the reason for or the length of the delay.
Zanganeh said in mid-December that Iran planned to roughly double oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day over the next year, as the country expects a relaxation of US sanctions after Joe Biden becomes president.
National Iranian South Oil Co. and Iranian Offshore Oil Co. will enter into agreements with domestic contractors for onshore fields in Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, NIOC said. The Reshadat offshore deposit in the Persian Gulf is also part of the agreements.
NIOC’s two subsidiaries agreed $ 1.8 billion in comparable domestic contracts in August to boost the production of more than a dozen onshore and offshore crude deposits.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran, will meet Monday to review production. While the 13-country group has cut production since May to boost prices in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Iran has been exempt from a quota due to the sanctions.
– With help from James Amott