Iran’s new petroleum minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has vowed to return Iran’s battered oil industry to its former glories by regaining the country’s lost oil market share, and raising its crude oil production back to 4.2mn b/d, levels last seen during his first stint as minister in the early 2000s.
“My first action will be bringing the country’s oil production capacity back to [its] 2005 [level],” Mr Zanganeh told the Ministry of Petroleum’s Shana news agency this week. “To that effect, I will spare no efforts,” he said, highlighting the development of Iran’s shared fields with its neighboring Arab Gulf states as his “priority.” Iran’s crude production slipped to just below 2.7mn b/d in July 2013 according to MEES estimates, down around 23% on levels seen at the start of 2012; and around 29% on 2010 average output of 3.73mn b/d. (CONTINUED - 790 WORDS)
