The National Iranian South Oilfields Company (NISOC) says its output has increased significantly despite sanctions imposed by the US which hampers normal exports of crude from Iran. NISOC’s CEO Ahmad Mohammadi said on Monday that output in onshore oilfields run by the company in four Iranian provinces in the south and southwest had surged by a third in the second half of the calendar year to March 20.

Mohammadi said output is planned to expand by another 10 percent in the current calendar year, adding that the company has also plans to prevent a loss in output which normally occurs due to old equipment.

NISOC is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company.

It is responsible for a bulk of Iran’s crude production in oil-rich regions, including from Ahvaz oilfield, the world’s third largest.

Speaking to IRNA news agency, Mohammadi would not elaborate on NISCO’s current output figures in line with Iranian Oil Ministry’s general policy to not disclose data on crude production and exports at a time the country faces US sanctions.

However, he said the company is ready to fully restore output to levels before May 2018 when Washington pulled out of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and reimposed sanctions on the country.

“If sanctions are removed, we will swiftly increase the size of production,” he said.

Government figures show the NISCO’s output was around 3 million barrels per day (bpd) before the sanctions were imposed.

Mohammadi’s statement on the 30% increase in production in the second half of the last calendar year comes against the backdrop of reports showing that Iran has been shipping record amounts of crude to China over the same period.

The official said that NISCO had awarded contracts to local companies to maintain and raise production by 300,000 bpd within the next few years