Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has urged German firms to boost presence in the Iranian market.
"We have prepared required infrastructures and the government will support investors," Iran's Shana news agency quoted Zanganeh as saying on May 9.
In am meeting with a number of managers of German energy companies in Berlin, Zanganeh emphasized the need for modern technologies in the Iranian oil and gas industries.
Iran has placed the priority to export natural gas to the neighboring countries at a reasonable price, he noted.
He also said that the country aims to finalize gas export agreements with regional countries once the sanctions are lifted.
Speaking at the "Energy Security Summit", which took place on May 7 in Berlin, Zanganeh said that what is important after the lifting of sanctions is that Iran should regain its share of the oil market.
Iran's crude oil production should reach to the pre-sanction level, i.e. four million barrels per day, he added.
"To materialize the goal, we need seven to eight months, and to increase the production to 5.7 million barrels, we need around three years," Zanganeh noted.
Iran plans to invest $180 billion by 2022 to boost its energy infrastructure, he said.
To this end, Iran prefers to implement projects such as transferring liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe via pipeline, he added.
He also said that the fall in oil prices was somehow politically motivated.
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.
Iran and P5+1 Group (UK, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China) reached a nuclear framework agreement April 2. The sides are in talks to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal by June 30, which would enable Iran to get rid of economic sanctions, including those imposed on purchasing Iranian oil in global markets.