An offshore oil platform operated by National Iranian Offshore Oil Co., near the island of Lavan, Iran.
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi / Bloomberg
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi / Bloomberg
Iranian energy companies have closed deals worth $ 1.2 billion to increase the country’s oil production, state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. said.
The contracts were due to take place on Monday in Tehran, in the presence of Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, but have been postponed, the NIOC said in a statement. The company did not disclose the reason or duration of the delay.
Zanganeh said in mid-December that Iran planned to almost double oil production next year to 4.5 million barrels a day, as the country anticipates a loosening of U.S. sanctions after Joe Biden becomes president.
National Iranian South Oil Co. and Iranian Offshore Oil Co. will sign agreements with domestic contractors covering land fields in the provinces of Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, said the NIOC. The offshore deposit of Reshadat, in the Persian Gulf, is also part of the agreements.
The two NIOC subsidiaries agreed $ 1.8 billion in similar domestic contracts in August to increase production in more than a dozen deposits of onshore and offshore crude oil.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran, should meet on Monday to evaluate production. While the group of 13 countries has reduced production since May to boost prices in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Iran is exempt from a quota due to sanctions.
– With the help of James Amott