Oil Ministry Official: Iran Has No Oil Reserves Without Buyers in Waters

Following reports about Iran's oil storage in floating tankers in the Persian Gulf, Iran claims that it has no oil on the water without buyers at its terminals in the Gulf, while also increasing its operational export capacity to six million barrels per day. On Tuesday, October 7, the Mehr News Agency quoted the CEO of the Oil Terminals Company stating that currently, Iran has 'no oil on the water without a buyer' in the Gulf terminals. Seyyed Pirouz Mousavi did not provide further details, but his statements contradict those of the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, who had said in late August that the volume of oil on the water in Iran is less than 10 million barrels and in accordance with 'market norms.' Roknoddin Javadi explained at that time that oil producers, in times of reduced demand, resort to storing oil both on water and on land to 'have operational maneuverability, and Iran is not exempt from this norm.' A week prior to Javadi's announcement, CNN reported, citing a maritime activity monitoring company, that 'the volume of oil stored by Iran in the Persian Gulf is about 50 million barrels, which has increased by approximately 150% since April 2014.' CNN noted that the volume of oil Iran has stored and hidden is significant because millions of barrels of Iranian oil will flood the global market once international sanctions are lifted in the coming months. The news network reminded that while Iran claims it has not stored oil in floating tankers in the Persian Gulf, no one believes this claim, and until recently, experts believed that Iran had stored between 30 to 40 million barrels of oil. In April of this year, Reuters reported that despite Western sanctions still acting as a barrier to increasing Iran's oil exports, Tehran had at least 30 million barrels of crude oil stored in its tankers in the Persian Gulf. However, if the Iran nuclear deal is implemented, it is expected that Iran will increase its oil production and exports, with reports from news agencies indicating that the Iranian oil minister has instructed an increase of 500,000 barrels in daily production. In this context, the Deputy Oil Minister and the head of the National Iranian Oil Company announced negotiations for the sale of 500,000 barrels of oil, stating that production would begin immediately and within less than a month after the lifting of sanctions. The CEO of the Oil Terminals Company also mentioned the increase in Iran's operational oil export capacity to six million barrels per day, stating that 'major repairs, reconstruction, and modernization of facilities, docks, and storage tanks at Iran's oil terminals in the Persian Gulf have been completed' to enhance crude oil exports in the post-sanctions era. Pirouz Mousavi added that there are no restrictions on increasing crude oil exports from the country's oil terminals in the Persian Gulf if the oil minister gives the order, and the terminals are ready for the lifting of sanctions and the issuance of the order to increase production by 500,000 barrels. Iran hopes that with the lifting of sanctions and attracting foreign investment in its oil and gas sector, it will increase its daily crude oil production to five million barrels in the first phase and later to five million and 700 thousand barrels per day. Iran's crude oil production in recent months has been estimated at between two million and 500 thousand to two million and 850 thousand barrels.