Azerbaijan, Baku, March 3 / Trend M. Moezzi /
A new offering of bonds for Iran's South Pars gas field, totaling more than $400 million, has begun today, Shana news agency reports.
This is the third offering for South Pars bonds. The previous sales earned the Pars Oil and Gas Company more than $815 million to fund and speed up the field's development.
The four-year bonds are tax exempt and have a 20 percent interest rate.
Seventeen percent interest rates for the bonds led to weak sales in their first offering.
Demand for the bonds grew with the decision to increase their interest rates to 20 percent.
Iran and Qatar share the 9,700 square kilometer South Pars gas and oil field. Qatar, however, is far ahead of Iran in exploiting the field's resources. It has intensified developing South Pars while Iran suffers international sanctions and technical and financial obstacles.