"Fortunately, oil production (in the country) has surpassed 3.1mln bpd and reached 3.25mln bpd," an informed source told FNA on Sunday.
The source said the US and EU's unilateral sanctions on Iran's oil supplies caused a sharp decrease in production, "but the conditions of Iran's oil production and exports improve" with the passage of time and as the sensations created by the start of the sanctions are fading away.
The source expressed hope that the country's oil production and crude exports would increase in 2013.
Earlier this year, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi said that Iran's oil production has remained steady despite enemies' sanctions against the country's energy sector, adding that the country is pumping oil in full capacity.
Qassemi made the remarks on the sidelines of an energy conference in the United Arab Emirates in October.
Oil minister said that the country is now pumping oil at full capacity, despite Western countries' efforts to prevent the Islamic Republic from selling oil in a bid to stop it from continuing its disputed nuclear program.
Iran is still producing 4mln bpd, Qassemi said, rejecting reports that the country's output has fallen to around 2.7 million bpd.
"Western sanctions and pressures have not created any serious problem for Iran's oil industry because Iran's crude is being supplied to the world markets and Iran has its traditional buyers," Qassemi told the Petroenergy Information Network late September.
In the meantime, Qassemi termed the sanctions as one of the main causes contributing the country to achieve self reliance and self sufficiency in procuring equipment for the oil industry.
Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
After the UN Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9, 2010, the United States and the European Union started approving their own unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its civilian nuclear program, mostly targeting the country's energy and banking sectors, including a US boycott of gasoline supplies to Iran.
The US Senate passed a legislation to expand sanctions on foreign companies that invest in Iran's energy sector and those foreign companies that sell refined petroleum to Iran or help develop its refining capacity.
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Informed sources refuted the western allegations that Iran's crude oil output has decreased, saying that the country's oil production has hit 3.25mln barrels per day.
News ID 183801
