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Iran extends South Pars bonds sale due to slow interest

Iran Materials 2 December 2011 12:49 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 02 / Trend F.Milad/

The National Iranian Oil Company has extended offering five trillion rials (some $460 million) in bonds to finance the South Pars gas field projects due to a low take up by the public.

The rial-based bonds offer started on November 26, but to date only 14 per cent have been sold, the Fars news agency reported.

Experts refer to the more profitable gold and currencies market as the main reason for the slow interest toward buying the bonds.

Five billion dollars in bonds will be issued in the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20, 2012) to speed up the implementation of the South Pars gas field projects, according to the Shana news agency.

Iran will also issue $15 billion in sukuk (Islamic Sharia-based) bonds in the current year to be invested in the domestic oil industry, oil minister Rostam Qasemi said earlier this month.

Iran needs to invest $48 billion to spur on the development of its oil and natural-gas industries, said Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr in October.

The South Pars gas field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic metres of gas, or about eight per cent of the total world reserves and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.

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