For the year, the world's third biggest oil consumer bought about 473,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran to feed expanding refining capacity, up from 208,300 bpd in 2015, the data showed.

The most important challenge facing Iran and all the Iranian technical and professional elite is high recovery of coefficient, he said, adding that raising the recovery coefficient by one percent will result in 700 billion barrels or let's say seven billion barrels; seven billion barrels with an oil sold for 50 dollars per barrel means 350 billion dollars more wealth for the country.

Oil, gas and petrochemistry are major topics of economic discussions between Iranian and Indonesian officials during the Indonesian president visit to Iran.

Gazprom joins Lukoil PJSC and Zarubrezhneft OAO in Russia, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in Tehran at the signing ceremony. Salbali Karimi, managing director of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Co., and Alexander Dyukov, chairman of the management board and chief executive officer of Gazprom Neft, signed the memorandum of understanding.

Iran's crude oil exports in December are set to fall 8 percent from November to a five-month low, a source with knowledge of its preliminary tanker schedule said, as lower shipments to China and others in Asia offset bumper exports to Europe.

Indonesian companies are interested to join upstream projects in Iran's oil industry in fields like Ab Teymour and Mansouri oilfields, said Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) of Indonesia Zulkifli Hasan.

OPEC in its 171st ordinary meeting on Wednesday, November 30, agreed to Iran's share of 3.9 million barrels per day in its total output.

“We expect demand to recover in 2017, then prices will stabilize, and this will happen without an intervention from OPEC,” Al-Falih said in Dhahran, eastern Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, according to the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. “We don’t have a single path which is to cut production at the OPEC meeting, we can also depend on recovery in consumption, especially from the U.S.”

"The general trend and public statements suggest that OPEC can reach a viable agreement for its production and market management." "If we can agree, and I am optimistic, (oil) prices will increase and this is also what the world economy demands."

Managing Director of Pergas Consortium Colin Rowley says his consortium is ready to invest in Iranian petroleum industry, train workforce and transfer technology.