Ahmadinejad: Over $7bln Invested in Iran’s Oil Industry

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underlined the world states’ growing enthusiasm for investment in Iran’s oil sector, and said investment in Iran’s oil and gas industry has now surpassed $7bln.

“At present, investment in the country’s oil industry has amounted to $7.1bln and the world is still eager to invest (in Iran),” Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony held on Tuesday to launch several optimization units at Shahid Tondgouyan (Tehran) oil refinery to improve the quality of the refinery’s products.

He downplayed the effects of the western sanctions on the country, and said, “Since the very day that investment in (Iran’s) oil industry was sanctioned by the westerners, the trend of investment in the oil industry has actually doubled” in speed and capacity.

Figures of 2011 showed that foreign investment in Iran witnessed a 13.8% growth compared with 2010.

Addressing a conference on foreign investment earlier this month, Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri said that Iran attracted $4.3bln of foreign investment last Iranian year (March 21, 2011 – March 19, 2012), while the figure stood at $3.8 a year earlier.

“The growing trend of foreign investment in Iran in 2011 has reach $4.325 billion with a growth rate of 13.8%, while the average rate for global foreign investment was 16%,” Alishiri underscored.

In May, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini announced that the country plans to attract more foreign investment for several development projects this year.

The minister said that Iran have established investment service centers in 31 provinces to attract foreign investment.

Iran enjoys high capacity for attracting foreign investment in its oil and gas industries.

In April, Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi invited domestic and foreign capital holders to make investment in the country’s oil and gas industries, and said Iran is among the most secure countries for investment in the energy sector.