Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said his country aims to more than double its crude oil production within the next three years.

The oil minister said Saturday the country's oil production stood at around 2.5 million barrels per day. Within the next three years, he said, production could reach 5.7 million bpd.

"The Petroleum Ministry's first program is to increase crude oil and gas condensate [production] capacity," he said in a statement Sunday. "To that effect, crude oil production should increase by 700,000 bpd."

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Iran is a member, said Iran's oil production was 2.7 million bpd in April, the last full month for which data are available from the 12-member group. That's relatively in line with historic production, though off a 2012 level of 2.9 million bpd.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week there was enough crude oil on the global market to allow foreign countries to cut back on the amount of oil they get from Iran.

The U.S. government and its allies have placed sanctions on Iran's energy sector in response to its controversial nuclear program. Carney said with nuclear talks progressing, however, those sanctions would be limited.

"The United States has committed to pause efforts to further reduce Iran's crude-oil sales for a six-month period," he said.

Libyan oil production below 200,000 barrels per day
Tripoli, Libya (UPI) Jun 9, 2013 –

The Libyan government estimates crude oil exports are below 200,000 barrels per day because of ongoing internal political issues.

The government said oil exports from the state-run National Oil Co. were 24.2 million barrels of oil for first quarter 2014. While on average, the rate is more than 200,000 bpd, the government said lingering stalemates with federalists pushed the recent daily rate even lower.

Optimism over a rebound in the Libyan oil sector increased in April when the NOC announced it lifted an emergency declaration on oil operations at its Zueitina terminal in the east of the country, where anti-government forces have control.

John Kingston, director of news operations for the Platts energy reporting agency, told Voice of America it appears Libyan oil exports have all but stopped and there is "no good news" coming from a nation that once produced about 1.6 million bpd.

"It can't get much worse in terms of supply," he said Friday.

He added it was unclear who was in charge of Libya's oil fields.

Oil rallies after encouraging US, China, Japan data
New York (AFP) June 09, 2014 –

Oil prices rallied sharply Monday, with the US benchmark hitting a three-month high, after positive Chinese, Japanese and US economic data raised expectations for more energy demand.

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery leaped $1.75 to close at $104.41 a barrel, the highest close for the benchmark US futures contract since March 3.

The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July, settled at $109.99 a barrel, a gain of $1.38 from Friday's close, in London.

The market gained support from China, the world's second-largest consumer of crude oil, after official data showed Sunday its trade surplus surged 75 percent in May from a year ago.

Chinese exports increased 7.0 percent and imports declined 1.6 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of $35.92 billion.

"The weekend (Chinese) report comes as a quite unexpected surprise on the upside, underpinning the demand for commodities," said Desmond Chua, an analyst for traders CMC Markets.

"The strong (export) gains overshadowed an unexpected fall in imports that could signal weaker domestic demand," said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.

Flynn noted the Chinese data followed the US jobs report Friday showing employment returning to its pre-recession peak, "confirming steady improvement in the world's top economy" and top crude consumer.

Japan meanwhile revised upward its economic growth for the first quarter to the fastest pace in more than two years, at an annual rate of 6.7 percent.

Investors also were focused on Wednesday's meeting of the OPEC oil cartel in Vienna.

The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose dozen member nations together supply about one third of the world's crude, is forecast by analysts to maintain its daily output ceiling at 30 million barrels of oil.