Iran Now Lagging Behind UAE in Oil Production

The 1970s were the heyday of the Iranian oil industry, when the country’s output accounted for 10 percent of global production. 

In the mid-1970s, Iran pumped a record 6 million barrels per day (bpd), almost four times more than the neighboring United Arab Emirates, and its output represented around 20 percent of global demand.

But national oil production dropped to a low in 1980, the year after the Islamic Revolution, and, during the following four decades, the Iranian oil sector faced major disruptions caused by war, sanctions and diplomatic isolation that have steered investors away.

As a result, Iran’s oil supply accounted for only 12 percent of global demand in 2022. That year, the UAE’s oil output exceeded Iran’s by over 5 percent, although Iranian oil reserves are 60 percent higher than those of this tiny Persian Gulf state. 

The politically stable UAE, whose oil production accounted for around 5 percent of global supplies in 1974, raised its share to 13 percent.

Click here to read Iran Open Data's article in Persian. 

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