Iran’s crude oil output hits 4m barrels per day

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi refuted the western allegations that Iran's crude oil output has decreased, saying that the country's oil production has hit 4mln barrels per day. “Fortunately due to the agreements reached between Iran and the foreign countries and the buy-back projects, at least 800,000 barrels of crude will be added to the country’s oil production output and these projects are underway with foreign investments,” Qassemi said. The Iranian oil minister underlined that Iran’s crude oil output capacity currently stands at 4 million barrels per day. Earlier this year, Qassemi said that Iran's oil production has remained steady despite enemies' sanctions against the country's energy sector, adding that the country is pumping oil in full capacity. Qassemi made the remarks on the sidelines of an energy conference in the United Arab Emirates in October. The oil minister said that the country is now pumping oil at full capacity, despite Western countries' efforts to prevent the Islamic Republic from selling oil in a bid to stop it from continuing its civilian nuclear program. In the meantime, Qassemi termed the sanctions as one of the main causes helping the country achieve self reliance and self sufficiency in procuring equipment for the oil industry. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. After the UN Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9, 2010, the United States and the European Union started approving their own unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its civilian nuclear program, mostly targeting the country's energy and banking sectors, including a US boycott of gasoline supplies to Iran. The US Senate passed a legislation to expand sanctions on foreign companies that invest in Iran's energy sector and those foreign companies that sell refined petroleum to Iran or help develop its refining capacity.