Iran allots $900m for offshore oil projects
Iran's Energy Fund has allocated $900 million for implementing development projects at offshore oilfields in the current Iranian calendar year which ends on March 20, 2013, IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) managing director Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh as saying.
Last year $300 million of the fund's assets was allocated for the purpose, he said.
On October 14, Zirakchianzadeh said that Iran has prepared new oil development plans with an estimated cost of $14 billion, related to oilfields located in the Persian Gulf.
"During the past two years as much as $20 billion worth of deals have been signed," he said, "Some $14 billion worth of new deals have been prepared and will be offered to contractors," he added.
The deals are related to Farzad A & B, Soroush, Esfandyar, Tossan and Alfa fields, Zirakchianzadeh noted.
Iran has attached a priority to boosting gas production capacity at its joint oilfields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has ordered all contractors of the South Pars gas field development projects to work round the clock in three shifts to complete the development of all phases.
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 total world reserves.