BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) currently owes $34 billion due to the received loans to the Central Bank of Iran and other commercial banks, as is reflected in the report of the Islamic Parliament Research Center (IPRC), Trend reports citing the Iranian Parliament’s official website.
According to the report, the 2015 budget (March 21, 2015-March 21, 2016) envisages a freeze on loans issued from the Central Bank and other commercial banks to NIOC for several years. However, the presence of this amount of debt is a serious obstacle to the company's future investments.
“In addition, the NIOC owes 2.5 billion euros and 109 trillion rials (about $2.59 billion) due to corporate bonds. By 2014, 2.5 billion euros and 53 trillion rials (about $1.26 billion) of these debts had been paid,” report said.
According to the report, only 14.5 percent of revenues from exports of crude oil, gas condensate and petroleum products return to the company. The company pays all expenses at the expense of these funds.
“The NIOC has put most of its investments in the oil sector at the expense of the company's internal reserves in recent years,” report noted.
"Given the natural complexity of oil reserves in Iran, new technology and additional funds are needed for oil fields. Thus, it can be noted that the period of low-cost oil production in Iran is over,” report added.