Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.24/ Trend F.Milad/
Some $30 billion was invested last year in Iran's oil industry despite global sanctions, an official with the Oil Ministry stated.
Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr told the Fars News Agency that the oil industry faced sanctions last year which led to a reduction in foreign investments. "However, we managed to absorb some $30 billion to the oil projects," he noted.
Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in April that at least $30 billion will be invested in the domestic oil industry this year.
He added that a major portion of the sum will be allocated to the South Pars gas field projects.
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 eight per cent of the total world reserves and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
Qasemi also said that the global economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic would not hinder the country's oil industry development.
The oil ministry is committed to accelerating the implementation of its development plans financed through the financial system and through government bonds, he said.
Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia.
National Iranian Oil Company's managing director Ahmad Qalebani has said that according to the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), some $30 billion should be invested in the oil and gas industries each year.