Iran has struck oil in a hitherto untapped region, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told local media as quoted by Reuters. “This is the first time we’ve reached oil in the Abadan region,” Zanganeh said, adding that the grade was very light and sweet, but giving no details regarding the amount of reserves contained in the reservoir. Iran has continued to pursue new oil production opportunities despite U.S. sanctions that have reduced its crude oil exports significantly although probably not as significantly, to date, as planned. As of December, Iran was shipping some 1.3 million bpd abroad, the International Energy Agency said in its latest Oil Market Report. What’s more, Tehran still has partners willing to help with the exploration and production growth. Earlier this month, China’s largest crude oil refiner, Sinopec, offered US$3 billion to Iran’s state oil company, NIOC, to jointly expand the development of a major field […]