On claims that Iran’s oil production had reached over 3.9 million barrels per day going beyond the figure specified in OPEC cut agreement, Deputy Head of NIOC for Development and Engineering Affairs Gholamreza Manouchehri said differences existed between statistics announced by Iran and those reported by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“As such, there still exists room for Iran to increase its production as agreed during the 171st Meeting of OPEC,” he continued clarifying that “according to the Vienna deal, Iran’s average output over six months needs to comply with the envisaged figure.”
The 171st regular session of OPEC was held in Vienna on November 30, 2016 with curbing crude production high on its agenda.
It was decided during the meeting that majority of members curtail production by a combined amount of 1.2 million barrels although Libya and Nigeria were exempted from the plan due to their insecurity and political instability.
In the meantime, a special decision was adopted for Iran. While Saudi Arabia and its allies were trying to persuade Iran to accept the freeze deal and cap its output level, OPEC members not only did not include Iran in the cutback agreement, but rather, thanks to successful oil diplomacy, they agreed with an increase of Iran’s production by 90 thousand barrels per day in the first half of 2017.
Accordingly, it was decided that Saudis lower crude production by 486 thousand barrels per day and Iran, who according to secondary sources produces 3,707 thousand barrels per day, was permitted to elevate its output level by 90 thousand barrels per day.