TEHRAN: Iran has discovered a massive new oil field, President HassanRouhani said Sunday, a find that would boost its proven reserves by about athird in a rare piece of “good news” for an economy battered by USsanctions.
In a speech aired on state TV, Rouhani said the country s economy hadstabilised despite punishing US measures against its senior leaders,banking and finance sectors.
The vast field in the southwestern province of Khuzestan holds an estimated53 billion barrels of crude, he said.
The 80-metre deep reservoir stretches nearly 200 kilometres from Khuzestans border with Iraq to the city of Omidiyeh.
“This is a small gift by the government to the people of Iran,” he said ina speech from the central city of Yazd.
“We announce to America today that we are a rich nation, and despite yourenmity and cruel sanctions, Iranian oil industry workers and engineersdiscovered this great oil field.”
The find would add around 34 percent to the OPEC member s current provenreserves, estimated by energy giant BP at 155.6 billion barrels.
Iran, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum ExportingCountries, sits on what were already the world s fourth-biggest oilreserves.
The new reserves, if proven, would lift it to third place, just beforeregional arch-rival Saudi Arabia.
Unconventional sales
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But it remains to be seen how much the country can benefit from the newfield.
Iran has struggled to sell its oil since US President Donald Trump withdrewfrom a landmark 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposed unilateralsanctions.
In May, Washington ended temporary sanctions waivers it had granted to theeight main buyers of Iranian oil, ratcheting up the pressure on holdoutsChina, India and Turkey to find other suppliers.
Tehran does not report exact figures, but says some crude is still exportedvia “unconventional” means.
It has hit back at the US with a series of countermeasures, stepping up itsnuclear activities and threatening to go further unless the deal s promisedeconomic benefits materialise.
It insists its moves are transparent and easily reversible, calling on thedeal s other parties to honour their commitments.
The remaining parties to the 2015 accord — Britain, China, France, Germanyand Russia — have been working on measures to help it avoid US sanctions,but with few results so far.
Since the US withdrawal, tensions have cranked up in the Gulf with a seriesof mysterious attacks on tankers and Saudi oil installations, with Tehranand Washington narrowly avoiding an armed confrontation after the downingof a US drone over Iranian territory. -APP/AFP
