From Bloomberg, Jan. 3:
Iran is trying to regain its lost share of global crude sales and has no intention of harming the oil market with its planned increase in production once sanctions are lifted from its economy, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.
“The oil ministry intends to boost Iran’s crude oil exports by an aggregate of 1 million barrels a day in two phases,” Zanganeh said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
In the first phase, Iran will raise exports by 500,000 barrels a day within a week after the removal of international sanctions, he said Sunday. The country will add another 500,000 barrels a day in a second phase within six months after the curbs end, Zanganeh said.
Brent crude slid 35 percent last year as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised output in the face of already rising global stockpiles. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, has led OPEC in fighting for market share against higher-cost producers such as shale drillers in the U.S. The group set aside its output target of 30 million barrels a day at a meeting in Vienna last month....MORE
