Iran getting ready for higher oil output after Trump leaves office: state TV

Tehran — Iran is ramping up oil production capacity in a bid to raise crude sales under US President-elect Joe Biden's administration after Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign to curb the country's oil sales to zero, state television reported Dec. 6.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, speaking to his cabinet, said the oil ministry has been instructed to "take all necessary measures" to prepare the oil industry's resources and equipment to return to full capacity within three months.

"The economic war with the US created numerous barriers against the country's oil and petrochemical products exports. But Trump's wish to zero Iran's [crude oil] exports never came true," Rouhani said.

The Iranian president pointed to the JCPOA, the international nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers, and said that the deal helped Iran to increase its oil trade up to over 2 million b/d.

"Today, there is this readiness for quick increase of oil production," Rouhani said.

Iran's oil ministry does not disclose oil production capacity or the number of barrels it is able to sell under the most stringent sanctions that Washington has imposed on the country. However, Hamid Pourmohammadi, an official at the state Budget and Planning Organization, said in early November that the average exports stood at 700,000 b/d in the current Iranian year that started March 21.

Iran's oil refining capacity has risen from 1.7 million b/d to around 2.3 million, a 43% rise over a six-year period, oil ministry news service Shana reported in September.