The minister made the remarks in a conference with heads of Iran’s missions in foreign countries.

“Unfortunately, we had problems in the energy diplomacy sector and exports were not satisfactory in the previous administration,” regretted Owji, adding the country had 87 million barrels of gas condensates in storage offshore before the incumbent government took over and witnessed numerous blackouts in 2020 winter due to the imbalance between gas production and consumption.

“Now, the offshore gas condensate storage has been reduced to zero, and we have made great investments and enjoyed banks and holdings’ funding to redress the imbalance,” he continued.

Investment incentives

Owji said, “We have adopted new method in oil contracts giving investors great incentives.”

He said investments are necessary for the development of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, encouraging foreign investors to fund the lucrative oil and gas projects.

The minister added good gas contracts have been signed, voicing Iran’s readiness to cooperate with other countries and construct refineries and refinery-integrated petrochemical plants.

Almost self-sufficient

Owji said 70 to 80 percent of oil equipment are manufactured in Iran and “we are almost self-sufficient in this sector”, adding all types of rotating equipment are produced by Iranian manufacturers.

“We are also producing 67 types of catalysts and exporting them,” he stated.

The petrochemical exports have fetched the country $14 billion, concluded the oil minister.