An Iranian Oil Ministry official has denied reports that flooding in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan has affected the country’s crude output.

Karim Zobeidi, from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said on Sunday that production from oil wells in Khuzestan had continued unabated despite a series of flash floods that swept through cities and towns in the southwestern province.

“Precipitation has no affected the oil production,” Zobeidi told the official IRNA news agency, adding that floods had mostly affected urban areas in Khuzestan and not the oil wells.

Khuzestan, home to some of the oldest oil facilities in the world, is responsible for almost 70 percent of Iran’s oil production. Districts in the region’s capital city of Ahvaz have been engulfed by floods in recent days causing rumors in the social media that floodwater has reached key oil facilities near the city.

Floods have also been reported near the port city of Mahshahr on the coast of the Persian Gulf where Iran’s key petrochemical facilities are located.

Authorities ordered the dismissal of Mahshahr’s mayor on Saturday, saying his lack of proper planning had caused damage to the city during the floods.

Government departments and businesses were closed for two days earlier this week in four flooded cities of Khuzestan to help speed up rescue missions for those regions.

NIOC’s Zobeidi dismissed reports that local staff working in Khuzestan’s oil production facilities had missed their shifts because floods had damaged roads and properties.

He said the Oil Ministry has been assisting with rescue programs in the flooded regions.