Iran, seeking to regain its market share lost over the past few years to now-lifted sanctions, has raised its oil production to above 3.5 million b/d, the National Iranian Oil Company said Saturday.

NIOC managing Rokneddin Javadi announced the figure in a report by oil ministry news service Shana.

"Average oil exports alone in April will reach 2 million b/d, and gas condensates exports in this month will see a 10% increase compared to the current level," Javadi said.

The latest figure announced by Iranian officials for condensates exports was 200,000-300,000 b/d.

Iran's output in March hit 3.23 million b/d, up 110,000 b/d from February, according to the latest Platts survey of analysts and industry officials.

On Saturday, Iran said it would not join a meeting of OPEC and major non-OPEC producers in Doha on Sunday that is expected to discuss an agreement to stop pumping oil above January levels.

Iran has made clear that it will not participate in any freeze plan, insisting that it be allowed to ramp its production up to some 4 million b/d, the level it had reached before the US and EU imposed sanctions on its oil sector over its nuclear program in 2012. Those sanctions were lifted in January.

--Aresu Eqbali, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Herman Wang, herman.wang@platts.com

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