Iran's energy sector review

Prior to his visit to the United States, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave his first interview among the foreign media outlets to the NBC TV Channel, in which he claimed that he has all the necessary authority for any steps in discussions of the nuclear issue with the West. It was the first time that an Iranian president says he has the full authority to make decisions over such a priority and strategic issue. According to article 110 of the Iranian constitution, the right to make strategic and foreign policy decisions in Iran, mainly belongs to religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "I still support the rules of diplomatic ethical conduct, as well as what I said years ago, a heroic flexible policy," Khamenei said recently at a meeting with generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Saying that 'years ago, he spoke of the heroic flexible policy', Ayatollah pointed to the book, which he has translated and published by him 44 years ago at t

Addressing IRGC commanders on September 16, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani announced that the country's crude oil exports have dropped to below one million barrels per day (bpd). Meanwhile, OPEC has recently released its September report, which includes information about Iran's crude oil output. This is the first report of Iran's Oil Ministry to OPEC in Rouhani administration. Based on Iran's Oil Ministry data (direct communication), OPEC has said that Iran produced 3.717 million bpd in August. But, OPEC's own assessment (secondary sources) puts the figure at 2.683 million bpd, ranking Iran as the fifth leading producer in OPEC. On September 12, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that Iran produced 2.680 million barrels of oil per day in August and exported 985,000 bpd, up 100,000 bpd compared to July. Considering that Iran's oil refining capacity is less than 1.7 million bpd, and that the country's crude oil exports volume has fallen