TEHRAN, July 9 (UPI) -- Production from an oil field in the Strait of Hormuz should increase to 30,000 barrels per day because of upgrades, the Iranian Oil Ministry said Tuesday.
The Oil Ministry's news agency, known by its Persian initials SHANA, said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to visit production facilities associated with the Hengam oil field to highlight the upgrades later this week.
The Oil Ministry said the upgrades to the facility would increase oil production to 30,000 barrels per day in the first phase.
Oil production from the field started in August 2010 at a preliminary rate of 7,000 bpd.
SHANA reported a field overhaul was conducted by domestic contractors. The Iranian government said its domestic industrial sector was thriving because more business was kept at home as a result of Western sanctions.
Western sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector are designed to rob the government of revenue it could use to finance a controversial nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but the United States and its allies suspect is military.
The Hengam is about 40 miles off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. It's shared with the government of Oman.
