TEHRAN Oct. 31 (Shana) � Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran will officially announce its crude oil output rise by 500,000 barrels per day at the upcoming OPEC meeting on December 4.
"During the [upcoming OPEC] meeting, we will officially notify other OPEC members of our plans to raise production and will ask them to respect the 30-million-barrel ceiling which they have agreed; besides, we will not wait for any other country for boosting our production," said Zangeneh in an exclusive interview with Shana during a visit to West Karoun oilfields on Thursday.
"Iran is prepared to supply at least 500,000 bpd of crude oil to global markets," he said.

He said according to the latest assessments of the production capacity of Iranian oil fields, the country will be able to boost its output by at least 500,000 bpd as soon as the US-engineered sanctions have been lifted.
"By the end of the current Iranian calendar year to March 20, or, at most, the beginning of the next year, Iran will add one million barrels of crude oil to its daily output," the Iranian official further said.

"All the grounds have been set for selling our oil and, God willing, we will have no problems for selling it," he added.
Asian markets top Iran's priorities for selling its oil after the sanctions removal, he said. Besides, Tehran also considered European and South African markets in this respect.

By SHANA