Oil production from the West Karoun oil fields in southwest Iran nearly doubled in the past year, oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said in an interview broadcast live Jan. 27 on state TV.

For the Iranian month of Dey, which runs from late December until late January, oil production for the West Karoun oil fields was 161,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2017. The oil fields produced 305,000 bbl/d for the same time period this year, Zanganeh said.

Also, OPEC members are likely to stick to production limits through the end of 2018, Zanganeh said. OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed last November to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018.

Separately, Zanganeh said in the state TV interview that Iran’s daily gas production at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, has increased by 83 million cubic meters (MMcm) in the past year.

The daily gas production for the Iranian month of Dey was about 470 MMcm at South Pars last year. The daily gas production for the same time period this year was 553 MMcm, Zanganeh said in the interview.

France’s Total signed a deal with Tehran last July to develop phase 11 of South Pars marking the first major Western energy investment in the Islamic Republic since the lifting of sanctions against it.

Total will be the operator with a 50.1% stake, alongside Chinese state-owned oil and gas company CNPC with 30%, and National Iranian Oil Co. subsidiary Petropars with 19.9%.