Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.9
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
The plunge in oil prices and declines in Tehran's oil exports have rendered the National Iranian Oil Company incapable of paying off its US$50 billion debt.
A considerable part of the outstanding debt is connected to crude oil projects and thedevelopment of Iran's South Pars field, which President Hassan Rouhani's government inherited from his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, ISNA news agency reported on Nov. 6.
Ali Kardor, the deputy managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, had earlier told ISNA that the company's main creditors were the Central Bank and Tejarat.
He added that the company would be able to pay off its debts as soon as the South Pars gas field was launched.
President Hassan Rouhani's first deputy, Es'haq Jahangiri, and his deputy for strategic affairs, Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht, have said that the administration has suffered a budget deficit of more than 700 trillion rials (some $28.1 billion). The country's total gross domestic product "at current prices" stands at $500 billion.
The negative impact of the current low oil prices is being felt across oil-producing countries and energy companies.
Iranian officials have announced that the country's oil output will be increased by 500,000 barrels per day immediately after the lifting of sanctions, Zanganeh noted.