Iran posts highest output surge in OPEC amid crude devaluation
Iran took the lead among OPEC member states with the largest increase in oil production in September, posting a modest uptick of 0.6% last month, the oil cartel’s monthly report showed.
The latest report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Iran churned out 3.316 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in September, which works out at 21,000 barrels more than in August.
Iran’s slight rise bucked the trend of a 2.3% overall decline in OPEC’s total output in September which amounted to above 27 million bpd – 604,000 less compared to August.
Iran held onto its position as the third-largest producer within the organization, coming in behind kingpin Saudi Arabia, which pumped 8.971 million bpd and Iraq that accounted for 4.112 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq both saw drops of 23,000 bpd and 155,000 bpd in their outputs respectively.
As per the Iranian Oil Ministry, the country rolls out around 3.4mn bpd.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has vowed to ramp up output by 400,000 barrels within a year.
According to international analytics companies, Iran’s oil exports hover around 1.7mn bpd, with more than 90% ending up in China.
The latest data released by Iran’s customs office suggest that the country raked in around $46.4bn from oil exports in the first half of the Persian calendar year (March 20-September 21).
Given the current export trend, it is expected that Iran’s oil revenue will reach $46.4bn by the end of the year, a 29% surge compared to last year’s figure of around $36bn.
Heavy crude plunging
Meanwhile, Iran’s oil prices took a nosedive for the second consecutive month in September with its heavy crude plummeting by 5.2%, shedding over $4 to settle at $73.6 per barrel.
It followed a sharp drop of more than 8% in August when prices tumbled from $84.5 to $77.6 per barrel.
On a yearly basis, the average price of Iranian heavy crude dropped by 52 cents to $81.85 per barrel compared to a year earlier.
The decline in Iranian oil prices comes on the heels of a slump in the value of OPEC’s basket of crude.
In September, the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) value slid by $4.82 per barrel, or 6.1%, month on month, to an average of $73.59 per barrel.