Iran boosted oil exports by 30 percent last month, Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said, after Tehran dismissed an output freeze despite historic low prices. Zangeneh told the Shana news agency that exports increased to 1.75 million barrels per day during the Iranian month of Bahman, which runs from January 21 to February 19. "This represents an increase of 400,000 barrels per day compared to the same period last year," he said on Monday.
The production also included gas condensates. Iran, which has the world's second largest crude reserves, currently produces about 2.8 million bpd, but output during Bahman rose off the additional exports to 3.2 million bpd. Tehran has come under pressure from OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar as well as Russia to follow their lead by freezing output at January levels as crude prices plumbed 13-year lows.
Zanganeh said after the deal that Tehran would "support any measure that can stabilise the market and increase prices" but stopped short of committing Iran to any curbs. Hampered by years of economic sanctions related to its atomic programme, Iran announced after a landmark nuclear deal with world powers was implemented in January that it was increasing production by 500,000 bpd immediately, to be followed by a further 500,000 bpd by the end of 2016.