Iran’s gas industry in dire need of $25b investment: MP
Iran’s gas industry needs $25 billion in investments, which is not included in the draft bill of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan that has been submitted to Parliament, said an MP.
Ebrahim Najafi, a member of the Civil Committee of the Parliament of Iran, told Mehr news agency that the country’s energy imbalance has not been addressed by the government plans for the next five years.
In the field of oil, we need to invest more than $100 billion, he added.
Despite the launch of some refineries in the country, the MP said, practically they could not compensate for our energy shortages, so we need to invest in infrastructure.
The exploitation of Phase 11 of South Pars by the Ministry of Oil was an innovative measure by the incumbent government, which took office two years ago, noted the lawmaker, explaining that it took 20 years for foreign contractors to fulfill their promise to operate this phase, but it was still not implemented.
“All other countries are extracting from their joint gas fields; of course, we invested for boosting extraction because the government is not able to provide the required financial resources,” Najafi said.
We need to use private sector investment, he added, noting, “We must negotiate with foreigners but the priority is with the domestic private sector.”
“In the past, we have always faced a drop in gas pressure in winters, as this pressure drop created problems for people during the cold days and even caused us to import gas from neighboring countries. But with the operation of Phase 11, the gas extraction capacity has been increased, which can help us in solving the gas imbalance,” he concluded.