Iran seeks $160 billion of investment to raise oil, gas production
Iran plans to increase its oil and gas production capacity by 50%, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says.
To achieve this, the country needs to invest $89 billion in the oil industry and $71 billion in the gas sector, Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said in an interview with IRNA.
Iran is the holder of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves combined, and at current recovery rates, it can continue to produce hydrocarbon resources for another 100 years.
However, sustainable production in the industry requires investment and the use of modern equipment.
“In order to increase the oil and gas production capacity in the country by 50%, we need an investment of $160 billion,” Khojasteh-Mehr said.
“With this investment, the oil production capacity will reach 5.7 million barrels and the gas production capacity will hit 1.5 billion cubic meters per day,” he added.
According to the NIOC head who is also Iran’s deputy petroleum minister, various plans are underway, with production set to increase from next year.
The first priority, he said, is to complete the unfinished projects and develop and start production from joint oil and gas fields.
The government is implementing 32 production maintenance projects signed by its predecessor. So far, seven plans to increase recovery and maintain production have come online and the rest are close to becoming operational, Khojasteh-Mehr said.
ME
