National Iranian Oil Co. hopes to attract domestic and foreign investment to the tune of $200 billion for oil projects under the country's 20-year economic development plan, the oil ministry's official Shana Web site reported Wednesday.
More than $15 billion will be invested within the initial years, Shana cited state-run NIOC corporate planning manager Abdol-Mohammad Delparish as saying without providing any additional details on the timeframe or type of investments.
Delparish said higher oil and gas prices have made an increase in the rate of investment possible, Shana reported.
The development of joint oil fields has been prioritized although no implementation plan has been presented, Delparish said, according to Shana, adding that the fields will have to be developed by the end of the country's 20-year plan.
A semi-submersible platform, rented under an agreement with Brazil's Petrobras, will soon start drilling operations in the Caspian Sea block 26, he said, Shana reported.
Delparish added that 112 million cubic meters of natural gas would be injected in Iranian oil fields this year, while gas production from the giant South Pars field would reach 260 million cubic meters a day by year-end, Shana said.