NIOC head calls for raising profits on bonds

TEHRAN,July 24(MNA) - The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) called for increasing profits on bonds which are issued to finance the oil industry’s projects. Ahmad Qalebani has said that issuing bonds with even 25 percent profit is economically justified. Iran plans to sell one trillion rials (some $820 million) worth of bonds in the current calendar month of Mordad (July 22-August 21) to finance the South Pars gas field projects. On June 26, Iran also issued 5 trillion rilas (some $410 million) in bonds for the same purpose. The 4-year paper offered a 20 percent yield per annum and was tax exempted. Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) will issue some 52 trillion rials (around $4.3 billion) in rial and foreign currency bonds for the South Pars plans in the current calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013. Offering up to 35 percent profit on South Pars gas field’s bonds to attract the public participation is economically justified, the South Pars Oil and Gas Company’s managing director Mousa Souri said in January. The South Pars gas field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.