Iran Hasn't Cut Offshore Oil Output, Halted Exports: IOOC Head

(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s offshore oil production hasn’t seen any reduction and the country just loaded crude for export, said Hamid Bovard, head of the Iranian Offshore Oil Co.

It loaded the latest batch of crude from its offshore fields for export three days ago, Bovard said at a press conference, without elaborating on the volume or the destination. Exports are underway as planned, he said.

The U.S. government terminated waivers allowing a handful of countries to buy Iranian crude in an effort to reduce Iran’s critical oil exports to zero.

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More than 130 million barrels of oil were exported from Iran’s offshore fields in the fiscal year that ended March 20, Bovard said.

A tender to raise production at the Forouzan oil field will be finalized by the end of June. Its development requires an additional 300 million-euro ($336 million) investment, he said. Iran has about 100 billion barrels of oil in 40 offshore fields in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, Bovard said.

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