Tehran, Iran, May 25
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister in International Affairs and Trade Amir Hossein Zamaninia said a draft nuclear agreement between Iran and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) says economic and banking sanctions on Iran will be lifted by the end of 2015.
He said that 20 pages of the agreement has been drafted, 30 percent of which is the subject of disagreement between Iran and the other negotiating side.
To tackle that, four background blueprints are to be written, but what is sure is that by the end of June, an agreement will be reached, he asserted, Fars news agency reported May 25.
Iran and the powers reached a framework political agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 2. They are now drafting a comprehensive deal which is to be signed by the end of June. The deal will limit Iran's nuclear activities for ten years and remove economic sanctions on the country.
Commenting on the effects of the ongoing talks and the April 2 Lausanne agreement between Iran and the six powers, Zamaninia said that while no special project used to be underway in Iran before the Lausanne talks, the Oil Ministry has been holding talks on future projects with Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece, China, and South Korea after the new political developments.
If the sanctions are removed, Iran will turn into the world's hub for oil and gas projects, he stated.
The official added that the Iranian Oil Ministry has plans for $200 billion investment in oil, gas, and petrochemical projects for the next 6 years.
Before the western sanctions were imposed on Iran in mid-2012, the country was producing about 3.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil, of which around 2.2 mb/d was being exported.
Currently Iran produces and exports 2.8 mb/d and 1.1 mb/d of crude oil respectively. The country hopes to boost oil output after sanctions are removed.
Edited by CN
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