Khatibi expressed dissatisfaction in the country’s current production capacity that stands at 4 million barrels per day (bpd) and asked the oil ministry officials to boost the figure.
“Saudi Arabia stands atop global crude exports by supplying 10.5mln bpd while Iraq stands the second with 4.3mln oil bpd,” he told a press conference on Saturday.
“And Iran can go up the ladder to stand the second from its current third via making proper investments,” he added.
He said Iran should boost output but it should first work on plans to lower the production quotas of OPEC members.
In August, the Director of the international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said that Iran had no plans to raise its oil exports until the western embargoes on the Islamic Republic’s energy sector are lifted.
Currently, Iran sells around 1.1mln bpd of crude oil to its traditional customers, the oil ministry website reported at the time.
Mohsen Qamsari’s remarks came as a reaction to some media reports which said Iran is planning to raise its crude oil sales before the western sanctions on the country are lifted.
Earlier in August, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company Roknoddin Javadi said the same about Iran’s output level.
He said: “Any increase in Iran’s oil production depends on the removal of sanctions and [the country’s] oil output will not undergo any change as long as sanctions are in place.,”
Recently, some media reports have suggested that Iran aims to boost its crude output by 500,000 bpd within the coming week.
