By Reuters

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Iran's current oil production is 4 million barrels per day, its oil minister Rostam Qasemi said on Tuesday on the sidelines of an energy conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Asked about oil production at present, Qasemi told reporters: "It is currently 4 million barrels per day."

He also said: "Oil is a commercial not a political issue...When the price of oil increases, this is to the benefit of some countries. We don't want the price of oil to increase, it has to be a logical price."

Iran's production is believed to have been hit by Western economic sanctions this year, and the figure given by Qasemi is substantially higher than many outside estimates.

The International Monetary Fund estimated earlier this year that Iran's output in 2012 would average 3.6 million bpd, down from 4.1 million bpd last year.

According to the latest data submitted by Iran to OPEC, it produced 3.75 million bpd in August, and according to the most recent secondary source estimates published by OPEC, Iran pumped just 2.72 million bpd in September, unchanged from August.

 

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