Iran to invest $40 billion in oil industry by March 2013: minister

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.30/ Trend G.Mehdi/ Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said up to $40 billion will be invested in the domestic oil sector by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013), the Shana News Agency reported. Last year, $30 billion was invested in the oil sector, Qasemi said, adding that the figure was just $13-15 billion in the year to March 2011. The country's daily oil output should reach 5.5 million barrels and daily gas output should amount to 1.4 billion cubic meters by 2015, he said. Qasemi said in August 2011 that the oil industry's infrastructure needs more than 500 trillion rials (about $41 billion) of investment annually to achieve objectives of the 20-Year Outlook Plan, which ends in 2025. On October 24, Qasemi said that Iran is investing $100 billion to boost its oil and gas production. "As part of a new government policy to boost energy production, we are currently investing $100 billion in new oil and gas exploration and production," he added. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az