Iran to raise oil production to over 5 million barrels per day

Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Sunday that Iran has the capacity to raise its oil production to over 5 million barrels per day by the early 2016.
“At present, 4mln barrels of oil and 600mln c/m of gas are being produced in the country every day,” Qasemi said, stressing that the amount should increase to 5.2mln barrels of oil and 1bln c/m of gas by the end of the country’s fifth five-year development plan (for 2010 to 2015).

The development plan is part of the 20-Year Outlook Plan (2005-2025), which is the country’s main blueprint for long-term sustainable growth.

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.

The minister said currently Iran produces 4 million barrels of crude oil per day adding that the country’s gas production capacity has also risen to 600 million cubic meters a day.

Iran sits on the world’s second largest reserves of both oil and gas and it gains its major revenues from exporting it crude oil.

According to Press TV, the oil minister also said the installed capacity of Iran’s petrochemical production stands at 50 million tons, which must increase twofold.