Khojasteh-Mehr was appointed as deputy oil minister and NIOC head on Wednesday, according to a statement published by the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.

In his appointment decree, Oji has tasked the new NIOC head with increasing the country’s oil and gas production capacity with a focus on South Pars gas field which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf and oilfields shared with Iraq in southwest Iran.

Khojasteh-Mehr replaces Masoud Karbasian who served as the NIOC head since 2018. He was minister of finance from August 2017 until his impeachment in August 2018. He had also held office as deputy economy minister and headed Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA).

Khojasteh-Mehr has a PhD in hydrocarbon reservoirs from Iran’s Amirkabir University of Technology, which is generally known in the West as Tehran Polytechnic.

His most senior positions in the Oil Ministry include serving as deputy minister for planning and leading the Tadbir Drilling Development Company (TDDC), a post he has been holding for the past years.

The NIOC is one of the largest oil companies in the world with nearly $200 billion worth of assets as per estimates published in 2012. The company oversees large-scale operations in the Iranian oil industry and controls major refineries across the country.

Iran’s Oil Ministry hopes NIOC can swiftly increase its output to 3.8 million barrels per day if U.S. removes sanctions of the Islamic Republic in case the two countries and other world powers can revive a 2015 international agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.

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Owji said on Thursday on his first day of work in the Oil Ministry that Iran would seek to increase its crude exports amid a recovery in international demand for oil that has been caused by accelerating vaccinations against the coronavirus.

He said that Iran will not hesitate to retake its share of the global oil markets some three years after the country’s crude exports came under extensive US sanctions.

“Demand for oil is rebounding due to vaccination(s) and undoubtedly one of our plans is to consolidate Iran’s position in OPEC and to retake our market shares,” said Owji in remarks covered by the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.

Owji said that an upcoming meeting of OPEC and allied producers, a grouping known as the OPEC+, will discuss Iran’s return to the oil markets.

He said the ministry under his watch would also seek to find new markets for Iranian oil.

“Identifying new markets will also be top on our agenda and we will regain whatever is deemed as a right for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the new minister.

He also called for the serious determination and presence of the industry’s staff to overcome the crises and challenges facing the country’s oil and gas industry.

Speculators expect an imminent return for the Iranian oil to the global markets if the country reaches an agreement with world powers to revive a 2015 international nuclear deal.

Owji has replaced former Oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh after being approved by the Iranian parliament. He gained the confidence of 198 out of 286 lawmakers in the legislature during a vote held on Wednesday where 70 lawmakers voted against his appointment to the post and 18 lawmakers abstained.

Owji’s notable positions in oil industry management in Iran include serving as deputy oil minister and head of the National Iranian Gas Company.

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The published plan is comprised of five separate sections including an introduction, some documents related to the oil industry’s upstream sector, major challenges facing the oil industry, urgent measures to be taken in the oil industry, and finally strategic steps based on the industry priorities.

“Factors affecting the oil industry that are closely related to each other can be classified as executive and organizational, economic, legal, political, technical and environmental, all of which should be addressed properly,” Owji has said in his plan’s introduction section.

“By reforming the structure and insights, the oil industry can play an important role in improving the business environment for real economic entrepreneurs and attracting investors,” the candidate has said.

One of the main pillars of achieving the goals of the Oil Ministry is to focus on implementing the policies of the resilient economy, paying special attention to the fight against corruption, reforming procedures and structures in line with the general policies of Article 44 and with emphasis on downsizing and reducing government ownership, the introduction read.

The official had previously underlined the establishment of strong diplomacy and bolstering international relations as a major priority for the Oil Ministry if he takes office.

Paying special attention to diplomacy with a focus on trading oil, gas, petrochemical products, and export of technical and engineering services, interacting with neighboring countries to reduce tariffs and find suitable solutions are the major axis of his international agenda.

Moreover, Owji has said he will be deeply focused on expanding bilateral or multilateral agreements with target countries by tapping the capacities of international and regional organizations, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, etc.

The official is also cognizant of modifying the consumption pattern of gas and oil products using Articles 12 and 13 of the Law on Removing Barriers to Production.

Development and implementation of energy diplomacy document in cooperation with relevant institutions, maintaining and increasing Iran’s status in OPEC, and expanding cooperation with neighboring countries, the Persian Gulf nations, and the Caspian Sea countries in the field of exploration, production, and joint venture capital are other areas that Owji’s team will be specially focused upon during his tenure as the Iranian Oil Minister under Ebrahim Raeisi’s administration.

Encouraging foreign investment for exports in the mid and downstream sectors and increasing the export of petroleum products to neighboring countries, as well as ensuring active support for boosting export of technology and engineering services of Iranian companies to neighboring countries are other areas of attention for the candidate.

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