IINS -- Iran needs to invest as much as $50 billion a year in its oil industry to maintain its position as OPEC’s second-largest crude exporter and boost natural gas production, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said.
Qasemi’s comments today published in the state-run Fars news agency came two days after the U.S. and its allies expanded sanctions against Iran in an effort to thwart the country’s controversial nuclear program.
Qasemi presented a proposal to the government and the parliament seeking annual investment of $50 billion for domestic oil and gas projects, Fars said yesterday in a separate report.
Iran needs to increase its output to 5.1 million barrels a day from current 3.9 million barrels by 2015, Qasemi said, according to Fars.
Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries./-
