Latest data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) show that Iran’s oil production rose significantly in 2024 despite US efforts to ramp pressure on the country’s energy sector through imposing back-to-back sanctions on its oil exports.
OPEC data, cited in a Wednesday report by the Fars news agency, showed that Iran’s oil production had reached an average of 3.257 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, an increase of 12.93% from 2023.
The figures showed that Iran had ended 2024 with an average monthly production of 3.293 million bpd in December and continued to pump 3.28 million bpd in January 2025.
That comes as total oil production by OPEC, a bloc that is made up of 12 countries, fell by 1.52% from 27.804 million bpd in 2023 to 26.672 million bpd last year.
A similar decline was reported for OPEC+, a broader alliance of oil-producing nations that include Russia.
Iran was OPEC’s third largest oil producer in 2024 after Saudi Arabia and Iraq which both reported drops in production in 2024, the data showed.
The increase in Iran’s oil production comes despite the fact that the United States toughened its sanctions on Iran’s oil industry last year by issuing penalties on individuals, entities and the tankers involved in the country’s oil exports.
They are also the latest sign that US sanctions on Iran, which were enacted in 2018 with the aim of choking off the country’s oil revenues, have failed bitterly.
Iranian authorities have said that the oil production in the country is expected to reach nearly 4 million bpd in the near future.