Iran oil reserves to last 60 years: Oil Ministry official

Iran will be capable of exploiting its oil reservoir for the next six decades as the country has raised its estimated crude reserves to 157 billion barrels, an Iranian energy official said.

“Based on estimates, Iran will have oil for 60 years and gas for the next 200 years,” said Deputy Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for Exploration Bahman Soleimani in an interview on Monday.

In the 1980s, Iran’s oil reserves were estimated to be enough for 20 years, but after extensive exploration, particularly over the past decade, many new crude reserves have been discovered, Soleimani pointed out.

The official added that exploration is conducted all over the country but most of the operations are focused on the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and the Zagros Mountain range.

In August, the Oil Ministry said Iran’s oil production increased by 11 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21) and predicted that the country will raise its oil production by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) within the next three years.

In May, Mohsen Qamsari, NIOC’s director for international affairs, said Iran’s oil production capacity would reach four million barrels per day by the end of the current Persian calendar year in March 2015.