Iran plans raising oil exports to 3 million barrels

BERLIN

Iran is planning to increase its oil production to 3 million barrels per day once sanctions on the country are removed, the country's oil minister, Bijan Zangeneh, said Thursday.

"We have big plans. We hope that after the sanctions have been removed we will be able to implement our plans," Zangeneh said at the Energy Security Summit 2015 in Berlin.

"Today we have a capacity of 1.8 million barrels and in the next six years we want to produce 3 million barrels per day," he added.

Zangeneh said that due to sanctions Iran has lost 60 percent of its exports and now aims to return to its former status as one of the leading oil-exporting nations.

The minister disclosed that Iran is planning to invest around $180 billion in the petro-chemistry and oil sector until 2022, to exploit fields and modernize facilities.

He called on German businessmen to invest in Iran's energy industry.

"We have new drafts, contracts that we are going to present soon, so that cooperation with Iran will become more attractive to oil companies," Zangeneh said.

"Germany is becoming an ever-more important player in our region. That is why we want good strategic, economic and political relations and cooperation in different fields, especially when it comes to energy and environmental policy," he said.

Zangeneh expressed hope that Iran, the EU and major world powers will reach a final agreement in nuclear negotiations within coming weeks.

"We want to live in exchange and cooperation with the rest of the world and play a constructive role for peace in our region for the development of our country," he said.

Zangeneh insisted that once the agreement is finalized all financial and energy sanctions should be lifted. He dismissed the Western approach for lifting sanctions in stages.

"If we accept everything but the financial and oil sanctions are still in place, what’s our benefit?" he asked.

"The oil sanctions and the financial sanctions all need to be lifted, so that in our country we can sell the negotiations to the people," he added.

Iran and the P5+1 countries -- the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, plus Germany -- reached a framework deal on April 2 in Switzerland on Iran's nuclear activities and are aiming to reach an agreement before a final deadline to the talks set for July 1.