TEHRAN, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Iranian crude oil production needs to increase by 1 million barrels per day in order to reach the goals outlined by the central government, officials said.
Seyfollah Jashnsaz, the head of the National Iranian Oil Co., said his country has its work cut out for it in terms of oil production goals, Iranian state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.
"Iran has to increase crude production by 1 million bpd, while replacing the natural loss in the production level of oil wells, in order to reach the new level of production of 5 million bpd," he said.
Iran has the capacity to produce 4 million bpd currently.
A national five-year plan set to kick off in 2010 outlines a series of cultural and scientific advancements Tehran aims to achieve.
Iran is the second-largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries behind Saudi Arabia. OPEC ministers at their regular meeting Tuesday in Angola are widely expected to keep production levels static as global energy demand suffers under economic strains.
Jashnsaz added Iran under the fiver-year plan expects to boost production of natural gas from 21.1 trillion cubic feet of gas to 39 trillion cubic feet per day.
