Iran will be able to immediately restore its crude oil production to levels seen before US sanctions hit the country in 2018, according to a senior official in the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Farrokh Alikhani, who serves as deputy for production at the NIOC, said on Wednesday the company will be able to restore a bulk of output lost due to US sanctions in less than a month.

“Based on plans and preparations that have been carried out, we expect to revive a bulk of the targeted capacity within one month,” said Alikhani.

The official said, however, that the NIOC has plans for restoration of lost output in intervals of one week, one month and three months.

According to Press TV, he said that the three-month target would mean a full restoration of output to an average of 3.38 million barrels per day (bpd) that had been reported in 2015 after Iran and world powers signed an international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, known as the JCPOA.

Diplomats from Iran and six other countries have been engaged in talks in Austria to revive the JCPOA more than three years after a former government in the US abandoned the deal and imposed sanctions on Tehran.

JCPOA’s revival would be critical to international oil markets as consumers expect the deal could lead to increased supplies from Iran and a decline in prices at a time of global recovery from the coronavirus and growing demand for crude.

NIOC’s Alikhani said that the company would seek to increase its output to above 4 million bpd if US sanctions are lifted as a result of the JCPOA’s revival.