Iran claims sanctions not affecting oil production

International estimates say the Islamic Republic is in fact producing 1.5 million fewer barrels per day

31 May 2013, 1:42 pm

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VIENNA (AP) — Iran says its oil exports are down by 20 percent but asserts it is still producing the same amount of crude — and finding markets for it as gasoline and other products — despite international sanctions.

Iranian oil minister Rostam Ghasemi spoke Friday as he and other OPEC ministers went into a meeting expected to keep the 12-nation cartel’s output target at 30 million barrels a day.

The US-led embargo on oil and other punitive measures were imposed in an attempt to force Iran to curb its nuclear program. Production is now an estimated 2.5 million barrels a day — about 1.5 million barrels less than before the sanctions.

But Ghasemi told reporters that “production has not changed.” He said that Iran, which used to import gasoline, now exports it.