Iranian oil output from its West Karoun oilfields, located in the southwest of Iran, almost doubled in 2017, Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, stated in an interview broadcast live on Iranian state TV, according to Reuters.

West Karoun’s oil production in the Iranian month of Dey, which lasts from late December until late January, reached 305,000 barrels per day (b/d) compared to 161,000 barrels per day (b/d) last year.

Additionally, the Iranian minister pointed out that “the country’s daily output of natural gas from South Pars has jumped by 83 million cubic meters in the past year, to reach 553 million cubic meters in the month of Dey this year, compared to 470 million cubic meters in the same period last year.”

Additionaly, an agreement with French Total is in progress in order to develop an offshore phase of South Pars. Yet, the deal requires further considerations, said Deputy for Development and Engineering at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Gholamreza Manouchehri, according to Financial Tribune.

“Total has not backed out of the deal, but NIOC has decided to look more carefully at the details of the agreement, because Total is also present on the other side of the field,” Manouchehri pointed out.