Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.23 / Trend F.Milad/
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that about 21 oil and gas fields should be proposed to domestic and foreign investors by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (2015).
While speaking at the conference in Tehran, he said that the country needs about $50 billion annually to develop its oil industry, ISNA news agency reported.
He added that the annual petrochemicals production capacity should reach 100 million tons by the end of the fifth development plan.
Qasemi added that new policies have been adopted to encourage foreign entities for boosting investments in Iran's oil and gas sectors.
Qasemi previously announced that Iran's recoverable oil reserves hit 154.8 billion barrels.
Iran's oil reserves hit 158 billion barrels, ISNA news agency reported, stressing a slight rise in the Islamic Republic's estimate.
"By the end of the fifth development plan, the country's oil production must increase to 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and this should happen in the country's joint fields," ISNA quoted Qasemi as saying.
Officials have put Iran's current output between 3.6 million and 4 million bpd. Hormoz Qalavand, head of the National Iranian Southern Oil Company, told Fars news agency that Iran's oil production is 3.92 million bpd.
Iran ranks second on the world's largest natural gas reserves after Russia. It is trying to increase its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.