Efforts for halting Iranian oil industry’s development failed: Zanganeh

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the U.S. efforts for stopping development of the country’s oil industry has failed, Tasnim news agency reported.

Although many efforts have been made to halt the development of Iran's oil industry, not only the development of our oil industry is not stopped but we are also witnessing contract signings and launching and implementation of numerous projects in the country's oil and gas industry," Zanganeh told Tasnim.

The official noted that oil and gas exploration continues across the country and the public will be informed when any new discovery is made.

Zanganeh has repeatedly denied the idea of U.S. sanctions’ long-term impact on the country’s oil production and exports capacity, saying output could be back to normal very quickly once the sanctions are removed.

Earlier this month, the minister had said that despite the U.S. sanctions, Iran will use any possible way to export its oil, stressing that exporting crude was the country’s legitimate right.

“We will use every possible way to export our oil and we will not succumb to America’s pressure because exporting oil is Iran’s legitimate right,” he said.

Back in August, the oil minister had stressed that the development of the upstream oil sector was the ministry’s top priority in the current Iranian calendar year, 1398 (March 2019-March 2020).

“The first phase of developing the upstream sector includes boosting production and rising recovery rates in 20 oil and gas fields comprising 52 reservoirs in cooperation with universities and research centers,” he said.

Since the U.S. withdrew from Iran’s nuclear pact in May 2018, the Islamic Republic has been taking various measures to counter U.S. actions and to keep its oil production and export levels as high as possible.

Iran has repeatedly announced that it is mobilizing all its resources to keep the country’s oil industry afloat and it has done so to some extent.

source: Tehran Times