TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) – To add 500,000 bpd to its oil production capacity, Iran has planned to establish an oil market in southern Caspian Sea, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Oil for Caspian Sea Affairs Hamdollah Mohammad Nejad said here Saturday. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Iran’s Plans for Maximization of Oil Revenues’, he added, “Using northern Neka-Rei Pipeline, Iran will soon be able to refine a 500,000-barrel daily oil input from Caspian states while exporting the same volume through Persian Gulf.” “They should reduce transmission expenses if they want to compete in the oil market.”

Relatively, there are much fewer resources in the Caspian Sea in comparison with Southern Iran, Mohammad Nejad said.

“Using its geo-economic situation as the major passage between two great energy resources, Iran is now ready to help northern neighbors transfer their oil products to the Gulf region,” he added.

“Caspian states can establish an OPEC-like organization to develop multilateral cooperation in the fields of oil production and exports,” he said adding they should as well expand ties with OPEC to improve their own position in the global oil market.