Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran hopes to increase crude oil production by 500,000 barrels a day following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the removal of sanctions.
Speaking at a signing ceremony of the contract on Sistan-Baluchestan gas pipeline on Monday, he said in the second phase, another 500,000 barrels will be added to the output, reported Shana.
Responding to a question on gas export to neighboring Pakistan via IP pipeline, he said Iran is ready to prepare the necessary infrastructure within a year.
Zanganeh said Iran is also ready to have an active presence in Afghanistan's energy market. "We can export fuel to Afghanistan in bulk via Sistan-Baluchestan province."
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company Hassan Montazer Torabi said that with the construction of a gas pipeline to Sistan-Baluchestan province, $660 million can be saved annually by substituting liquid fuels with gas.
The implementation of the 950-kilometer gas pipeline project, which is estimated to cost $1.8 billion, will be carried out in two years by a private contractor based on BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) mode.
The project includes pumping gas to residential units in Zahedan, Chabahar, Khash, and Zabol cities as well as five power plants in the province.
Iran has said it will win back its quota in the global oil markets by doubling the current output to two million barrels per day within six months once the sanctions are lifted.
Tehran is pushing to regain its quota of 14.2 percent within OPEC and later to increase its share in the global market.
Iran was OPEC's second-biggest producer before US-led sanctions banned its customers from purchasing, transporting, financing and insuring of its crude in mid-2012.