Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony to sign a contract for completing the development of South Azadegan Oilfield on Monday, Mr. Zangeneh said the production capacity of petrochemical products and the Persian Gulf Star refinery would increase as well.

He said 25 million tons would be added to the country’s petrochemical production capacity this year, adding this would be marked as the largest output growth in the history of Iran’s petrochemical industry.

He said the second petrochemical leap of the country would reach fruition almost by 2021 and the sector’s output would cross 100 million tons per year from currently 66 mt/y.

The official further said that 9 EPC/EPD contracts would be signed with local firms in the near future, adding the Oil Research and Technology Fund would also be activated.

He also touched on the Azadegan contract, saying the project would bring the joint field’s productivity to 320,000 b/d from currently 140,000 b/d.

Moreover, 200 mcf of natural gas would be produced in the project which would be used to feed the NGL 3,200 plant.

“Our priority is the development of joint fields, the most prominent of which are the fields in West Karun region and the South Pars gas field,” he said.

Long-term China Deal

Asked about the long-term agreement between Iran and China, Zangeneh said: "The discussion is on a general agreement and I can say with confidence that in the field of oil, neither the Chinese have asked us for a concession nor are we giving a concession. The subject is long-term cooperation in various fields, including field development, refining, petrochemicals, etc. We are ready for any other country except the Zionist regime that wants to have such cooperation with Iran. Even American companies are not barred from working as contractors or investors in our projects…. This [the Iran-China deal] will be a friendly and bilateral cooperation. Our current relationship with the Chinese is also good and without any tension.”

Regarding the role that international companies can play in the development of Iran's oil industry, Zangeneh said: "Cooperation with foreign companies is not only important for raising capital; What we are looking for is mainly the absorption of technology to increase the recovery rate of reservoirs, and that interdependence can help expand our market presence, but it is not the case that if they do not work with us, we will die. During these years, we have shown that we carry out our work decisively and do not fall short.”

Azadegan field is the largest joint oil field in Iran with 33 billion barrels of oil-in-place. Most of the oil reserves in the field, i.e. 27 billion barrels, are located in South Azadegan.

It is worth mentioning that the West Karun Exploitation and Desalination Unit and the Skid Mounted Processing Unit are the current plants for Azadegan oil refining. A central treatment export plant (CTEP) is being built to add to the field’s processing capacity.

The total value of the contracts signed today between PEDEC and Petropars is $1,261 million and IRR 11,830 billion.

The contracts will complete development of the joint field with 206 wells and 320,000 barrels/day of crude oil as well as 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.

The development of the South Azadegan joint field, which is located in the West Karun region, near the Iraqi border and about 80 km west of Ahvaz, began in 2014 when the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a deal with a Chinese company. However after foot-dragging and failure of the Chinese firm to complete the project, NIOC expelled the company.

So far over 171 wells had been spudded in the field besides construction of 2 separators, 257 km of flow pipelines, 90 km of transmission pipelines and 23 km of communication pipelines.