SHAFAQNA -Â Iran was the third leading producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in May, outpacing the United Arab Emirates, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report.
Iran produced 2.845 million barrels of oil per day in May, the report said, ranking Iran behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq at third place.
The UAE produced 2.83 million barrels of oil per day in May. Saudi Arabia and Iraq were the two leading producers, with 10.107 million barrels per day and 3.8 million barrels per day output, respectively.
According to the report, total OPEC crude oil production averaged 30.98 million barrels per day in May, an increase of 24 thousand barrels per day over the previous month.
The share of OPEC crude oil in total global production increased slightly to 32.9 percent in May compared with the previous month at 32.8 percent. 

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that Iran’s oil production could be lifted by one million barrels per day within half a year of Western sanctions being lifted.
Zanganeh’s forecast, delivered before a looming June 30 deadline to finalize Iran’s historic nuclear power deal with world powers, was revealed at a two-day OPEC seminar in Vienna June 3-4.
Questioned about the Islamic republic’s oil output, he told delegates: “We believe that immediately, or after one month of lifting the sanctions, (we will achieve) half a million (extra) barrels per day, and after 6-7 months we will achieve one million barrels.â€Â 

“Iran, because of the sanctions and limitations, has reduced production and exports.â€Â 

Iran currently exports 1.3 million bpd, against 2.2 million bpd before the sanctions were imposed about one decade ago.