Iran's Oil: How Much It Produces, Where Kharg Island Fits, And What A US Takeover Means

Published 11 June 2026 · world

Iran's Oil: How Much It Produces, Where Kharg Island Fits, And What A US Takeover Means Published By, Last Updated: June 11, 2026, 19:36 IST

Iran's Oil: How Much It Produces, Where Kharg Island Fits, And What A US Takeover Means Published By, Last Updated: June 11, 2026, 19:36 IST Donald Trump says the US will hit Iran very hard, aims to seize Kharg Island oil hub. Here's an in-depth analysis on Iranian Oil and production rates at Kharg Island Since the 1960s, Kharg has become the backbone of Iran’s energy exports and a key link between Iranian oil fields and global markets. (X) United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US will be hitting Iran ‘very hard tonight,’ and that Washington intends to take control of Kharg Island and other Iranian oil infrastructure ‘in the not too distant future.’ Trump drew a direct parallel to Venezuela, where the US removed President Nicolas Maduro from power on January 3, 2026, and subsequently authorised American companies to lift, sell, and market Venezuelan oil under OFAC General Licence 46, issued on January 29. ‘Much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly,’ he said. How Much Oil Does Iran Produce? Iran is OPEC’s third-largest crude oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Its output ran between 3.2 and 3.3 million barrels per day through 2025 and into 2026, according to the Columbia University Centre on Global Energy Policy. That figure dropped to approximately 3.06 million barrels per day in March 2026 as the US-Israel war on Iran disrupted operations. On top of crude, Iran produces around 1.3 million barrels per day of condensate and natural gas liquids from its gas fields, primarily South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar and which holds roughly a third of the world’s largest natural gas reservoir.

Domestic refinery capacity runs to about 2.4 million barrels per day, with throughput averaging around 2.1 million barrels per day before the war. Domestic consumption absorbs approximately 2 million barrels per day, leaving the surplus available for export. Where Kharg Island Fits Kharg Island sits in the Persian Gulf roughly 32 kilometres off Iran’s southwestern coast. It is Iran’s primary crude export terminal and has been since the 1960s, when it was developed to anchor Iran’s oil trade. Between 90 and 96 per cent of Iran’s crude exports flow through the island’s jetties, according to data from Kpler and Iran Open Data. The island’s storage capacity is approximately 31 million barrels, per Kpler. Its deep-water access allows very large crude carriers to berth directly, a facility most of Iran’s coastline cannot offer. By the mid-2020s, the terminal had capacity to load 10 supertankers simultaneously, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. In February 2026, in the days before the US-Israel war broke out, Iran was loading more than 2 million barrels per day from Kharg, a near-record pace, as Tehran accelerated exports ahead of the conflict. The island also hosts three major energy infrastructure facilities: the Falat Iran Oil Company, which produces 500,000 barrels of crude per day; the Kharg Petrochemical Company; and the Iranian Oil Company’s main export terminal. Subsea pipelines connect it to Iran’s largest oil fields in the southwestern Khuzestan province. What The US Blockade Has Already Done To Kharg Since the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports on April 13, 2026, Kharg has been effectively cut off from its export markets.