Iran's president boasts of increasing oil production

Iranian oil production has increased as multilateral nuclear negotiations continue, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran can export around 1 million bpd under the terms of a November arrangement that brought some relief from economic sanctions in exchange for a commitment to curb nuclear research activity.

Rouhani said Saturday oil production has increased while nuclear talks with the members of the P5-plus-1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany -- continue.

"As negotiations go on with the P5+1 group, Iran's oil production capacity has increased," he said Saturday.

In early June, the U.S. government said it would "pause efforts to further reduce Iran's crude-oil sales for a six-month period."

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last week the country aims to more than double its crude oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day to 5.7 million bpd within the next three years.

The Organization of Petroleum Countries, of which Iran is a member, said in its latest market report Iran produced an average 2.77 million bpd during the first quarter of 2014, up 3.2 percent from the previous quarter.