Iran to up oil production at gulf field

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TEHRAN, April 24 (UPI) -- Iranian oil production from an offshore field near the maritime border with Oman is set to increase more than 30 percent, Iran said.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Co. Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh said that, once a fourth well is drilled, production at the Hengam oil field should increase from 22,000 barrels per day to 30,000 bpd, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reports.

"Three wells have been drilled and made operational in Hengam field so far and the fourth well of this offshore field is expected to become operational within 10 days," he was quoted as saying.

The announcement follows reports of a cyberattack targeting the Iranian energy sector.

Tehran announced it was able to fend off an attack targeting the Web sites of the Iranian Oil Ministry, the National Iranian Oil Co. and "a number" of companies tied to the energy sector, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reports.

The Oil Ministry said it was able to counter the attack before it was able to inflict any damage on its servers. Mehr said the attack was from a computer worm.

Malware called Stuxnet was suspected of targeting certain parts of the Iranian nuclear program in 2010.