South Korea brought in 1.55 million tons of Iranian crude last month, or 365,641 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 1.1 million tons in the same month in 2016, customs data showed, according to Reuters.

In the first eight months of 2017, South Korea’s oil imports from Iran were 12.22 million tons, or 368,529 bpd, up 46.7 percent from 8.33 million tons during the same period the year before, the data showed.

South Korea mainly purchases an ultra-light oil, also known as condensate, from the country. It uses condensate to produce more expensive fuels like naphtha.

Earlier, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said Iran will reach an oil production rate of 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) within five years.

Iranian gas production will reach 1.3 billion cubic meters per day and production of gas condensate will reach 864,000 bpd in the next five years, he said.

He added that the boost in oil production will come from an increase of 420,000 bpd from the West Karoun oil field and an additional 280,000 bps from oil fields in central and southern Iran as well as the Falat Ghare oil company.

Oil exports are expected to reach up to 2.5 million bpd within five years, the Iranian oil official added.

The increase in gas production is expected to come from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, according to Kardor.

Iran has been producing around 3.8 million bpd of oil in recent months.