Iran ready to offer tenders for 21 oil and gas fields: Iranian oil minister

TEHRAN, Nov. 24 (MNA) -- Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said that Iran is ready to offer contracts for 21 oil and gas fields to domestic and foreign investors. Addressing an investment opportunities conference in Tehran on Wednesday, Qasemi said that Iran needs about $50 billion annually to develop its oil industry for the rest of the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015). Annual petrochemical production capacity is projected to reach 100 million tons by the end of the Fifth Development Plan, he added. He went on to say that new policies have been adopted to attract more foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas sectors. Qasemi had previously announced that Iran’s recoverable oil reserves stood at 154.8 billion barrels. However, Iran’s oil reserves currently stand at 158 billion barrels as a result of new discoveries. “By the end of the Fifth Development Plan, the country’s oil production must increase to 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and this should be realized through the country’s joint fields,” Qasemi said. Officials have put Iran’s current output at between 3.6 million and 4 million bpd. National Iranian Southern Oil Company Director Hormoz Qalavand recently told that Iran’s oil production is 3.92 million bpd. Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is trying to attract more foreign and domestic investment, especially in the South Pars gas field, in order to raise its gas production.