Since the lifting of anti-Iran sanctions is on the horizon, the Iranian oil industry is preparing to return to the energy market powerfully with 2.3 million barrels of oil production per day.
Iran has experienced a long history of facing oil sanctions. The first case of such embargo dates back to 70 years ago when Britain imposed sanctions on the Iranian government under Prime Minister Mossadegh, who tried to nationalize the oil industry.
The tenure of US President Donald Trump saw the intensification of a pressure campaign against Iran in recent years. The Trump administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran's economy, in particular on the country's oil industry, which happened following the United States' withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump has repeatedly stressed that his government intends to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero, an ambitious plan which has never come true.
Now, the US president-elect Joe Biden wants to return to the negotiating table and the change of policy could facilitate Iran's oil exports and its access to money.
Therefore, the Iranian government predicts the export of 2.3 million barrels of oil and gas condensate in the next Iranian calendar year's budget bill (March 20, 2021 - March 20, 2022).
The optimistic expectation has caused some disagreements, but the authorities insist on the realization of the budget due to their capability to pursue Iran's oil diplomacy in correct path. So, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that he would not promise something that seems to be impossible.
Iran's government has recently declared that it plans to revive oil exports within the next three months to the level before the US sanctions began.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said that the US-imposed economic war had hindered the country's oil and petrochemical exports, adding that the Trump administration dreamed of reducing Iran's oil exports to zero, which has never materialized.
Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiee emphasized that the Islamic Republic succeeded in the US-imposed economic war, adding that Iranians' first achievement is to regain their share of the international oil market.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the reduction of demand for oil; so, oil-producing states have been forced to sign an agreement to decrease production in a bid to balance prices.