Iranian ex-president Rafsanjani offers channeling oil revenues into production
By Sara Rajabova
Former Iranian president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has said oil revenue should be channeled into the production sector and a portion of it should be reserved to deal with critical situations, ILNA reported.
Rafsanjani said that the country's needs in the industry and trade sectors should be met by employing efficient and experienced manpower.
Unfortunately, in recent years, oil revenues have been mostly used to import goods instead of supporting domestic producers, Rafsanjani said.
Rafsanjani, who chairs the Expediency Council, expressed hope that the change in the political leadership of the country would help resolve problems in the mentioned sectors.
Oil exports make up 80 percent of Iran's total export earnings and 50-60 percent of the government revenue, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Earlier, UK-based energy giant BP upgraded oil reserves for both
Iran and Iraq by several
billion barrels. In a report the company estimated global proven
reserves at 1,669 billion barrels at the end of last year, up
slightly from 1,654 billion at the end of 2011.
According to the report, Iran's proven oil reserves were 157 billion barrels at the end of 2012, while the volume was 154.6 billion barrels at the end of 2011.
Furthermore, Iran has increased oil refining capacity at the Lavan petrochemical facility by 10,000 barrels per day in an effort to counter the US sanctions and export petrochemical products instead of crude oil, Mehr news agency reported.
A crash plan was launched last month, which led to 10,000 barrels per day increase in the production of gasoline, diesel fuel and naphtha.
Iran's oil refining capacity is currently about 1.85 million bpd.
Recently Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said the U.S.-engineered sanctions have not impacted Iran's crude oil production.