By Hashem Kalantari and Anthony DiPaola

(Bloomberg) — Iran plans to double crude exports as long as the rise in shipments is absorbed by world markets, which it sees as secure for the remainder of the yr, in keeping with a senior official at state-run National Iranian Oil Co.

The nation is exporting about 2 million barrels of its day by day output of three.8 million, mentioned Mohsen Ghamsari, NIOC’s director of worldwide affairs. It has regained about 80 % of the market share it held earlier than the U.S. and European Union tightened sanctions on its oil trade in 2012, he mentioned. Iran plans to double crude exports.

“We are not very far away from our pre-sanctions peak and we will soon attain that share,” Ghamsari mentioned in an interview in Tehran. “Our exports peak is above 4 million barrels a day, and we have plans for that and are waiting for the right conditions,” he mentioned, with out elaborating on the timing for such a rise.

The Persian Gulf nation is searching for greater than $100 billion in funding from worldwide companions to improve its oil trade and reclaim its place because the second-biggest producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia. Iran targets 5.8 million barrels a day in mixed manufacturing of crude and condensates by 2021. It defied skeptics with a 25 % surge in manufacturing to this point in 2016 and goals to achieve an eight-year excessive for day by day output of 4 million barrels by the top of the yr.

Oil Price

Benchmark Brent crude, which averaged greater than $99 a barrel in 2014, tumbled to a 12-year low of about $27 in January as a result of continued world provide glut. It fell as a lot at 1.8 % to $45.90 a barrel and traded at $46.13 at 11:30 a.m. in London.

“The market will stay on its present balance, and a return to prices below $30 a barrel is not very probable, at least in the current year,” Ghamsari mentioned. “Our policy is not to stockpile oil in floating offshore storage. In other words, we produce as much as we think the market would absorb.”

Iran is delivery about 25 % of its exports to European patrons, he mentioned. NIOC is promoting larger volumes in Asia, although it hasn’t elevated the variety of provide contracts in that area, he mentioned.

“Most of our oil transactions and agreements are long-term-based, leaving a small portion for spot sale,” Ghamsari mentioned. “We are right now in negotiations with many companies, both in Europe and Asia,” he mentioned, with out figuring out any of them. Iran is taking funds for some gross sales in euros, he mentioned.

The U.S. nonetheless prohibits transactions associated to Iran from being carried out in {dollars}, accusing the Islamic Republic of abusing human rights and sponsoring terrorism. Even so, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh predicted in June that Iran would signal its first offers with international firms inside three months.

© 2016 Bloomberg L.P