Significant Increase in Iran's GDP Amid Oil Production

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Iran is a member, published its annual report on Friday, June 8. This report states that Iran's GDP last year was $447 billion, up from $419 billion the previous year. Details of Iran's economic statistics indicate that the oil sector has played a significant role in GDP growth. Overall, Iran's crude oil exports increased by 10.6% last year, reaching 2.125 million barrels per day. One-third of this amount went to Europe, while the rest went to Asia. Iran's exports of petroleum products and gas condensates also saw similar growth, exceeding 992,000 barrels per day. In total, Iran's oil and non-oil exports in 2017 grew by 18% to nearly $111 billion, with about half of that coming from oil revenues. Iran's oil revenues grew by more than 28% last year, attributed to both an increase in export volume and rising oil prices. The average price of Iranian oil last year was $51.70, compared to just under $40 in 2016. Meanwhile, Iran's imports surged last year, increasing by 42% to $124 billion, partly due to gasoline imports. According to OPEC's assessment published on its official website, Iran imported 96,000 barrels of gasoline daily last year, a 56% increase compared to 2016. This increase is not only due to annual domestic demand growth but also because Iran's gasoline production fell by 4% to 418,000 barrels per day, while the country's gasoline consumption rose by 31% to 582,000 barrels. Iran's recoverable oil reserves fell by 1% to 155.6 billion barrels last year, while gas reserves remained stable at approximately 33.8 trillion cubic meters. Iran produced 238 billion cubic meters of gas last year, a 5% increase. Iran's gas exports grew by 50% to about 13 billion cubic meters, while imports decreased by 50% to about 4.7 billion cubic meters.