“Ideas come from universities; the costs and risks are ours,” Hamid Bovard said Tuesday, Sept. 29, during the Strategic Council meeting of the Fifth Scientific and Research Olympiad in Petroleum Engineering.

Expressing satisfaction at attending the gathering of professors and academic elites, he said the Olympiad could bring blessings to the country. “Oil is a strategic commodity, and in Iran, it plays an even more critical role than in many other parts of the world. Currently, 40 to 50 percent of the national budget depends on oil, so attention to this sector is inevitable,” he said.

Bovard stressed that the Olympiad should focus on the real needs of the oil industry, echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s recent remarks to the Cabinet on the importance of adopting new technologies and innovation in oil and gas production. He added that NIOC has already formed working groups and signed agreements in this area.

He said achieving new technological goals is within reach. Since last November, NIOC has activated a task force to cooperate with universities and apply scientific innovations, with prominent professors participating. “Experience shows that whenever a new technology or innovative idea has been raised, NIOC has been ready to support and apply it,” he said.

Bovard noted that in the past, companies and universities often lacked the financial capacity to carry out their ideas. “Today, NIOC is ready to cover the operational costs of such projects. For example, we can provide drilling rigs or technical facilities for university projects to help ensure their ideas succeed in practice. This is how it works worldwide: universities provide ideas, and industry carries the cost and risk,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of closer collaboration with academia, he pointed to successful examples in drilling projects and reservoir studies. “We are now ready to push this process forward more strongly so results move beyond research and reach industrialization,” he said.

Bovard concluded that the Petroleum Olympiad should not be just a scientific event, but also a platform to foster lasting ties between universities and the oil industry, leading to tangible results for the economy. “NIOC will support university ideas and innovations along this path,” he said.