Iran plans bids for 8 new oil, gas blocks

A senior Iranian oil official says tenders would be put out for eight new oil and gas exploration blocks in the country in the near future.

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) director of exploration Mahmoud Mohaddes says documents for the tenders are being prepared, Mehr news agency reported. He has not given further information about the bids.

The official added that Iran plans to explore new reserves of 500 million barrels of oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of gas per year during a five year plan.

Earlier Mohaddes said that during the course of the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010) of Iran, the country has discovered 19 new oil fields and eight new gas reserves.