Iran gives green light to foreign investment in oil sector

TEHRAN,April 19(MNA) – The Iranian first vice-president said that the country is ready to sign billion-dollar oil contracts with foreign companies. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 17th International Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show), which opened In Tehran on Tuesday, Mohammad-Reza Rahimi referred to South America and Africa as the new markets for Iranian petrochemical products, Pana news agency reported. Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said that although the country’s oil industry is under economic sanctions, the oil ministry welcomes foreign investment in oil and gas projects. Despite the international sanctions on Iran, the number of the countries participating in this year’s exhibition has increased by about 10 percent compared to last year. On January 23, EU foreign ministers approved sanctions against Tehran, including a ban on Iranian oil imports, a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) within the bloc’s states and a ban on selling diamonds, gold, and other precious metals to Tehran. Iran exported some $14 billion worth of petrochemical products to 60 countries last year, which ended on March 19, said the National Petrochemical Company’s (NPC) managing director. Abdolhossein Bayat added that $10.5 billion of oil income will be allocated to the development of national petrochemical industries, Pana news agency reported. Iran has developed 69 plans to boost its petrochemical output from this year’s 54 million tons to 100 million tons in 2015. Western Europe and China are the main recipients of Iran's petrochemical exports, followed by Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the Subcontinent, Africa and Latin America.