Iranian oil gushing forth

Oil output and exports are rising fast. But longer-term gains will need the support of the IOCs

SINCE emerging from international sanctions in January Iran has steadily increased its crude production and regained its place as a major oil exporter to Europe and Asia. The swift return of the country’s oil – a much quicker recovery than many analysts expected – is likely to prolong the global oversupply, and remains a major obstacle to any efforts by Opec and other producers to restore balance to the market. Iran produced 3.4m barrels a day in April, says JBC Energy, a firm of analysts, up from 2.99m b/d in January. It has vowed to reach 4m b/d as soon as possible, putting it within 100,000 b/d of its pre-sanctions 2011 level. Sources close to state oil company Nioc say that by June its i