Page 54 - IRANRptSep22

Iran’s oil exports running at level 40% higher than a year ago says NIOC CEO
Iran’s refining capacity reaches 2.2mn bpd
element entails an investment of $4bn across seven fields.
While investment progress appears to be in the offing, another major gas discovery was announced this week, further expanding the country’s already world-class resource.
Malek Shahriati, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Commission, was quoted by the local YJC news agency as saying that a field holding 1 trillion cubic metres of gas had been discovered to the north of South Pars. He said that further exploration efforts were being carried out on the asset.
For Iran, though, recovery is a far more immediate problem than identifying new resources. With average recovery rates at southern fields understood to run in the region of just 5-8%, it risks leaving huge volumes of oil in the ground, hence the push for investment in improved and enhanced recovery efforts.
Iran's oil export volume is running at a level 40% higher than was seen a year ago even though US sanctions aimed at the country's petroleum industry are still in place, official news agency Shana on April 3 reported National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) CEO Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr as saying. On April 1, Tasnim News Agency reported Oil Minister Javid Owji as stating that Iran's oil production, at more than 3.8bn barrels per day (bpd), had reached pre-sanctions levels.
Iran uses discounts and grey market tactics aimed at avoiding sanctions enforcers to encourage buyer nations to keep accepting its crude oil shipments. China is its main market. Washington is widely seen as presently and largely standing off on sanctions enforcement on Iranian oil sales given that Iran and the US are currently attempting to successfully complete the Vienna talks to relaunch the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA.
If a JCPOA reinstatement, which would involve the lifting of US economic sanctions on Tehran, could be achieved, Iran would be expected to quickly pick up many more ready buyers of its crude because various countries are boycotting Russian oil shipments in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Iran's refining capacity has reached 2.2mn barrels per day (bpd) with an increase of more than 400,000 bpd in the last decade, SHANA reported on July 4.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reviewed the world's refining capacity by different countries in its annual bulletin that was published last week. According to this report, Iran's refining capacity in 2021 is equal to 2.202mn bpd, up by 1,000 barrels compared to 2020.
Iran's refining capacity in 2020 was equal to 2.201mn bpd. Iran's refining capacity has increased by more than 480,000 bpd from 2011 to 2021, according to OPEC's annual bulletin report. The Islamic Republic's refining capacity in 2011 was equal to 1.715mn bpd.
OPEC said the refining capacity of Saudi Arabia was 3.3mn bpd, Venezuela 2.2mn bpd (including capacity upgrade), the UAE 1mn bpd and Iraq 1.1mn bpd in 2021.
The refining capacity of other OPEC member countries is less than 1mn bpd.
54 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com