Iran has appointed a new oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, following a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday, Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency reported.
Paknejad, an oil ministry veteran who previously held the position of deputy oil minister from 2018 to 2021, took the podium on Wednesday to bemoan the state of affairs in Iran’s oil industry.
The new oil minister called on Tehran to boost production, warning that fossil fuel reserves will remain limited over the next two decades, without significant development efforts.
As things stand now, Iran is expected to see its oil output rise by 400,000 barrels by the end of next year, according to Trend AZ.
Paknejad said the ministry would work to balance production and consumption to stabilize the industry.
In July, according to OPEC figures, Iran saw a month-on-month increase of 20% in crude oil production, hitting 3,271,000 barrels.
The country’s total fossil fuel reserves are set at 1.2 trillion barrels, according to Trend.
However, Iran needs help getting fossil fuels out of the ground, with the Azerbaijani news agency indicating that some 70% of its gas reserves remains trapped underground due to technological insufficiencies.
Iran has a total of 74 oilfields and 22 gas fields in operation.
While production and development remain an issue, sanctions continue to bite in terms of exports and revenues.
Iran, however, appears to have rounded up new buyers of its sanctioned crude, including Oman and Bangladesh, Reuters reports.
Iran’s oil production has been recently estimated to have hit its highest level since 2018 as Tehran looks to boost output and exports, and export revenues with these, despite the U.S. sanctions.
Last month, Iran’s Petroleum Minister Javad Owji claimed that Tehran is currently exporting its oil to as many as 17 countries.
Wasington is still considering ways of squeezing Iranian oil exports amid heightened Middle East tension following Tehran’s vow to avenge the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.
Source: Oilprice.com