TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian legislator said the country has recovered $20 billion of its oil income from previous sales, as banking sanctions imposed on Iran have made it difficult for the country to access its revenues.


Ali Mohammad Ahmadi, member of the Iranian parliament’s planning and budget commission, told the Tasnim News Agency on Monday that Iran’s oil export revenues amount to more than $23 billion during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (21 March- 23 October, 2013), adding that $20 billion of the revenues in the previous year were taken back to the country in the same period.

“During the first seven months of this year, a daily average of 2,722,000 barrels of oil have been produced, however, with the daily amount of oil exports standing at 935,000 barrels a day in the same period,” the lawmaker added.

He noted that the average price of Iranian crude during the 7-month period was 103 dollar per barrel.

On December 4, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran’s oil exports could be back to pre-sanctions level in a few months.

“We have no technical difficulties to expand our exports and to return to four millions barrels a day oil output...We believe it is our right to increase our exports,” he said.

On the required time for Iran to return its production to the pre-sanctions levels, the Iranian oil minister predicted that it would be the beginning of the next Iranian year ( starts on March 21, 2014).

Iran's crude oil exports had dropped from 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2011 to 1.2 million bpd in 2012, according to the minister.

In August, Zanganeh said that the top priority of his ministry was to raise the country's "oil production capacity" to 4 million barrels a day.

“Increasing Iran’s oil output will boost (the country’s) bargaining power in international bodies, like OPEC, so the oil production capacity must increase immediately to above four million bpd by the end of the current (Iranian) year (ending on March 20, 2014),” Zanganeh said at the time.

By Tasnim News Agency

 

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