Amid a growing number of companies preparing to leave Iran as U.S. sanctions kick in, one international oil and gas consortium has announced it will stay in the country. Pergas International Consortium, which includes 11 European, Canadian, and Asian companies, has no plans to abandon its Iranian operations, Irna quoted its managing director Colin Rowley as saying.

The statement comes a month after Pergas signed a preliminary contract with Tehran for the development of the Keranj oilfield in the southern Khuzestan province of Iran. Reuters noted at the time this was the first contract after President Donald Trump announced the Untied States’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Pergas plans to pump a total 655 million barrels of oil from Keranj over the next 10 years. This weekend, the company’s head said, “the Consortium plans to execute the plan with precise and accurate management and for this purpose, it intends to cooperate with the Iranian and international parts manufacturers. Once this plan is executed completely, moreover increasing Iran’s crude production capacity, employment opportunities will be generated in Khuzestan Province.”

Energy Minister Bijan Zanganeh told media this weekend that there were plans to increase Iran’s crude oil production by 460 million barrels over the next three years. This will involve ramping up production from 29 fields across the country.

Most of the work on this production boost will be carried out by local companies, Zanganeh also said, adding that 75 percent of the equipment to be used in the endeavor is also Iranian.

Iran is OPEC’s third-largest oil producer, with a daily rate of 3.8 million barrels as of early June, according to a survey from S&P Platts. The return of U.S. sanctions is expected to affect this figure, although the precise extent of the impact is yet to be seen.

Source » oilprice