CEO Nasrollah Zarei said production is expected to reach 120,000 barrels a day by the end of 1404.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Zarei said the Cheshmeh-Khosh development project is a foreign investment venture launched by a Russian company in 2020. The contract is valued at about $3.1 billion, with $550 million spent so far to lift production from 100,000 barrels a day to 114,000.

He emphasized that major oil and gas projects often span multiple administrations and thanked previous governments, including the late president Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, as well as his colleagues at PEDEC. The project has created about 2,000 jobs and is expected to generate 600 permanent positions once completed.

Before the mobile desalting unit was installed, limited desalting capacity had capped output at about 100,000 barrels a day, Zarei said. The new facility has added 14,000 barrels to daily capacity, and production is planned to reach 120,000 barrels by year’s end, with further increases expected in 1405.

Calling the oil industry the front line of Iran’s “economic war,” Zarei said that despite sanctions and international pressure, development projects continue. “Although sanctions affect costs and timelines, the path of growth goes forward with strength,” he said.

He added that in the past year, the oil minister and his deputies have worked to remove key obstacles facing the sector.

Zarei also thanked senior Oil Ministry officials, the National Iranian Oil Company board, managers of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company, the governor general of Ilam province, and local military and security commanders for their support.