Azerbaijan, Baku, July 9/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iran's North Drilling Company has finalized a deal with China to buy 14 onshore and offshore drilling rigs, the Mehr News Agency quoted NDC managing director Hedayatollah Khademi as saying.
Some 20 percent of the capital required for buying the rigs (about $200 million) will be provided by the National Development Fund and the rest will be secured by Chinese financers, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the Majlis says buying the rigs from China will bankrupt domestic manufacturers.
In recent years, some 20 drilling rigs have been imported from China. Former Iranian deputy oil minister Akbar Torkan says Iranian manufacturers are able to build 70 percent of parts of drilling rigs.
This is while Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has warned all the contractors to avoid importing equipment that is currently being produced domestically.
All the contractors who ignore the warning will be omitted from the list of oil ministry's contractors, the Mehr News Agency quoted Qasemi as saying.
Even if the prices of Iranian-made equipment are slightly higher, the contractors should purchase the Iranian goods, he underscored.
This comes as Chinese equipment have been largely imported for carrying out different oil and gas projects.
Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical contractors annually purchase 30 billion dollars worth of equipment. Last year the amount faced some 50 percent falling to 15 billion dollars.
Iranian-made equipment accounted for 5 billion dollars of the mentioned amount, while foreign goods especially Chinese equipment accounted for the rest.