TEHRAN: Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, announced that government has allocated $20 billion to develop West Karoun oilfields in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Zanganeh said that his ministry has placed the production of crude from West Karoun oilfields as a top priority.
“Based on plans, we should produce 700,000 barrels of crude in West Karoun oilfields within three years,” the minister added.
He noted that the government will develop the oilfields on the basis of buyback contracts with domestic and international oil companies.
The Oil Ministry has drawn up new contracts to facilitate the development of oil and gas fields across the country, he added.
“New contracts will be a foundation for attracting investment, international companies and owners of technology,” he said.
Zanganeh added that Iran is capable of supplying more oil to the market following the removal of sanctions.
Despite sanctions and restrictions on financial resources, the minister said, the Islamic Republic has managed to launch five new phases of South Pars Gas Field. A total of 125 million cubic meters per day was added to the country’s annual gas production capacity in the 12 months to March 2015.
He said gas production capacity is to rise to 200 million cubic meters per day by March 19, 2016.
Zanganeh also pointed out that China does not hold any money from the export of Iranian crude oil to that country. “There is no frozen funds in China [as the result of the sanctions],” Zanganeh said.
“Still, it is the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) that should comment on Iran’s total frozen assets,” he added.
It was reported earlier that over $20 billion from Iran’s oil earnings were frozen in Chinese banks as the result of sanctions. Accordingly, officials in Tehran said plans are underway to retrieve the amount through Chinese investments in Iranian infrastructure projects including building petrochemical plants, subways, etc.
Media reports earlier said China together with India and Japan hold a total of $100 billion in frozen Iranian cash as the result of sanctions.
With the progress in Iran-P5+1 nuclear talk over the past few years, international banks started to unfreeze Iranians assets that they had been holding as the result of the sanctions. Iran has so far retrieved about $10 billion of its frozen assets through a series of phased installments.
Zanganeh made the remarks a few days after his return from Beijing where he held talks with top Chinese officials on the expansion of mutual cooperation in oil and gas industries.
The Iranian minister further underlined that China will remain Iran’s strategic partner even after the sanctions on Iran are removed. “The Chinese were concerned that Iran would abandon them once the sanctions are removed,” he said.
