Iran today sealed contracts worth billions of dollars with domestic companies to boost its oil production in the face of Western sanctions. — Reuters picTEHRAN, March 17 — Iran today sealed contracts worth billions of dollars with domestic companies to boost its oil production in the face of Western sanctions.
Shana, the official news agency for the oil industry, labelled the deals as Iran’s “biggest oil contracts in the past decade” and said they aimed to add 350,000 barrels per day to the country’s daily production.In October, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji promised the country’s oil production would reach 3.6 million barrels per day by the end of the Persian year on March 19.
Iran’s oil sector suffered a blow in 2018 when Western sanctions were reimposed, forcing foreign companies to leave the country, after the United States withdrew from a landmark deal designed to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.According to the oil ministry, Iran will be “relying on domestic expertise” to help boost the production in its western and southwestern fields, including Azadegan in Khuzestan province, on the border with Iraq.
Last week, Iran said it has given US$20 billion in contracts to domestic firms to ramp up production from the offshore South Pars gas field in the Gulf, which is shared with Qatar.