Iran oil output capacity 4mn barrels per day: Oil minister

Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi says Iran has the capacity to produce 4 million barrels of crude and 600 million cubic meters of gas per day.

Referring to the fact that Iran possesses 12 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 18 percent of its gas reserves, Qasemi said on Sunday that, “The capacity to produce oil must reach 5.2 million barrels and gas production capacity must hit one billion cubic meters per day by the end of the fifth Five-Year Development Plan.”

Iran holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves.

Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan is part of the 20-Year Outlook Plan (2005-2025), which is the country’s main blueprint for long-term sustainable growth.

The Iranian oil minister said the installed capacity of Iran’s petrochemical production stands at 50 million tons, which must increase twofold.

Qasemi added that developing joint gas and oil fields is one of the ministry’s top priorities and said 300 million dollars should be invested in the industry for production, storage and development.

Qasemi said petrochemical productions would replace wooden and stone products in such fields as aerial and land transportation, adding that Iran’s National Petrochemical Company has made plans to meet these goals.