Sanctions have not affected oil projects in Iran: Iranian oil minister

TEHRAN, April 18 (MNA) - Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that the sanctions imposed on the country have not closed down or even halted any oil project, and that crude exports are flowing unimpeded. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of inaugurating the 17th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show), which opened in Tehran on Tuesday, he said that all the South Pars gas field development projects are underway. Although the country’s oil industry is under economic sanctions, the Oil Ministry welcomes foreign investment in oil and gas projects, Qasemi said. The Oil Ministry has approved a $22.8 billion budget for developing different phases of the South Pars gas field this year, which began on March 20. In 2009, Iran said that development of the remaining phases of South Pars required an investment of around $40 billion over 10 years. 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. Despite the European Union sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, 315 companies from 44 countries have thus far put in requests to participate in the oil show, which will run until April 20. “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 the last year,” said Es’haq Rouyvar, the director of the 17th Iran Oil Show on Thursday. Rouyvar stated that the participants include 940 Iranian and 315 foreign companies. 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.