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TEHRAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said Saturday that Iran has managed to regain a major portion of its crude market share it lost under the U.S.-led sanctions over the past years, Iran's Petro-Energy Information Network (SHANA) reported on Saturday.
"We fulfilled our promise to add 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Iran's crude output" in the past months following the lift of western sanctions in January, Zangeneh was quoted as saying.
"Contrary to what some had speculated, Iran's return to the market did not reduce the crude prices," Zangeneh said.
Since the lift of western sanctions on Iran's energy sector over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, Iran has been ramping out its oil production and expects to claw back lost market share.
Western sanctions on Iran's energy sector over the latter's sensitive nuclear program had cut Iran's crude output to around 2.5 million bpd and reduced exports to barely above one million bpd during 2012-2015.
In May, Zanganeh also said the country's crude production and exports had almost doubled compared to the levels seen during the sanctions period.
