Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 30 / Trend M. Moezzi/
Iran holds 11 per cent (155 bn extractable barrels) of the world's oil and 18 per cent of its gas reserves, the Iran Students' News Agency ISNA quoted the National Iranian Oil Co.'s (NICO) managing director as saying.
The rate of return on investments in Iran's oil and gas fields is between 50 and 200 per cent and can't be compared to investments in other economic sectors, NICO's Managing Director Ahmad Ghalebani told ISNA. This, along with the world's reliance on oil and gas has led to joint projects, he added.
Iran will sign 21 contracts by the end of the Iranian year (ending in March 2012) with NICO currently enjoying 1.3 trillion rials in current projects, he said. Mr Ghalebani added this figure will reach 1.6 trillion rials by the end Iran's Fifth Development Plan according to ISNA.
NICO's managing director said Iran has between 550-650 trillion rials (50-60 billion dollars) in investment packages to offer domestic and international companies, reported ISNA.
Mr Ghalebani cited the global dependence on oil and gas and Iran's role as a major energy provider which are key reasons for increasing future investments.
Iran tops the world in extractable reserves and has 350 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves, Mr Ghalebani told ISNA. Based on completed explorations, this figure will increase over the next five years with 28 per cent from liquid reserves and 44.8 per cent from joint projects, ISNA reported the deputy oil minister as saying.