A World Bank report warned that the lifting of Iran sanctions would add about a million barrels of oil a day and so depress oil prices by a further $10 per barrel next year, said Trade Arabia.

These conclusions came in the World Bank’s Middle East North Africa (Mena) Quarterly Economic Brief, entitled Economic Implications of Lifting Sanctions on Iran, adding that Mena’s other oil exporters are likely to see lower export earnings and revenue too as a result of Iran coming back on line.

“Since the framework agreement of April 2015, we have seen increased interest from multinational companies in investing in Iran, especially in the oil and gas sector,” said Lili Mottaghi, World Bank Mena economist and the author of the report. ”That trend is likely to accelerate with the lifting of sanctions, providing much-needed capital and upgrading of technology to Iran’s oil sector.”

In a related development, Press TV reported that the Managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Roknoddin Javadi, said that his country will not increase production of crude oil until sanctions are removed.

Previously Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Iran can increase its oil production by 500,000 b/d within a week, but again only “immediately after the removal” of sanctions against his country.