SHANA - A senior official with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) removed many of the obstacles in the way of supplying oil industry equipment in Iran.

Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy for development and engineering at NIOC, said many of the issues concerning supply of oil industry equipment and parts have been removed thanks to implementation of the JCPOA back in January 2016.

"Fortunately, we have seen the increase of oil and gas production in the past two years in such a way that nearly 4 million barrels of oil is being produced currently and the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix has augmented by almost 70%," said the official.

The official also underlined the fast pace of completion of the South Pars projects, adding Iran is currently producing 550 mcm/d of natural gas from the field it shares with Qatar in Persian Gulf waters.

Manouchehri further added that NIOC talks with leading energy heavyweights in the world are continuing and will most probably lead to signing of deals with them soon.

"We are about to sign several contracts soon and hopefully a number of others will be signed next [calendar] year," he said.