Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 28 / Trend F.Milad/
Offering up to 35 percent profit on South Pars gas field's bonds to attract the public participation is economically justified, Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) head Mousa Souri stated.
Paying just 17 percent profit to investors considering the high profitability of the South Pars development projects is not favorable for investors, POGC head Mousa Souri told Mehr news agency.
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has written a letter to Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani to raise interest rates for issuing the South Pars bonds, Fars news agency said.
About $5 billion in bonds will be issued in the current Iranian calendar year (to end on March 20, 2012) to speed up the implementation of South Pars gas field projects, the National Iranian Oil Company's managing director Ahmad Qalebani told Shana news agency in November 2011.
Iran needs to invest $48 billion to spur development of its oil and natural-gas industries, Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said.
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 meters of gas, or about 8 percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.