TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (Shana) -- Head of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) says the company has raise extraction of crude oil from the country's southern oil-rich fields.

Bijan Alipour told Shana that the boost has come as a number of wells have been repaired and new ones have been drilled by the company in the region adding to its oil output.

Nearly 80% of Iran's crude oil production is provided from the country's southern oilfields, Alipour said, adding that NISOC has located aging oil and gas facilities in its fields and is planning to renovate them based during a 10-year period.

Earlier this month, the official said Iran is poised to increase its crude oil output "immediately" to the promised 500,000 bpd after the removal of draconian western sanctions.

He said that after the boost the company will prepare for the second raise in Iran's output by adding another 500,000 bpd.

NISOC is Iran's biggest crude oil producer which accounts for 83% of Iran's crude output and 16% of the country's natural gas production.
"The company has levelled all the necessary preparations for the boost and there will be no concerns for the 500k bpd raise after the sanctions removal," he said.

"After the mandatory drop in the country's output imposed by the draconian sanctions, NISOC has maintained production, refining and maintenance of its facilities in order to keep its output intact," he added.

He said during the years 2014 and 2015 the company has undertaken more than 14,000 downhole projects, 550 procedural revisions, and 2,800 refinery overhauls to keep its production capacity unchanged.

Alipour has said all plans have been devised to boost production from oil-rich regions south of Iran.

As he said, once the company receives instructions from the ministry of petroleum, it can reach the pre-sanctions production level within a "three-day period."

"NISOC faces no limits in supplying crude oil for exports to world markets and providing feedstock to petrochemical plants and refineries of the country," said the official.

By SHANA