Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.26 / Trend F.Milad/
Iran started proposing 5 trillion rials (about $460 million) in bonds on Saturday at the Tejarat Bank branches nationwide to finance the South Pars gas field projects, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported.
About $5 billion in bonds will be issued in the current Iranian calendar year (to end on March 20, 2012) to speed up the implementation of South Pars gas field projects, National Iranian Oil Company's managing director Ahmad Qalebani previously told Shana news agency.
Iran will also issue $15 billion in sukuk (Islamic Sharia-based) bonds in the current year to be invested in the domestic oil industry, oil minister Rostam Qasemi said earlier this month.
Iran needs to invest $48 billion to spur the development of its oil and natural-gas industries, Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said in October.
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 8 percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.