Iran Oil Minister:

Iran ready to develop Iraq upstream, downstream sectors

Iran is self-sufficient in all segments of the oil industry despite brutal sanctions and ready to develop Iraq’s upstream and downstream sectors, said Oil Minister Javad Owji on Wednesday.

News ID: ۸۱۶۴۸۴

28 December 2023

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with an Iraqi delegation headed by Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani, the top Iranian oil minister added, “The two sides reached favorable agreements on the exploration and development of joint onshore and offshore fields in line with their previous sessions held in Tehran and Baghdad and tasks assigned by their presidents.”

Owji said a working group was formed to follow up the renovation and reconstruction of refineries in Iraq by Iranian experts.

Given Iran and Iraq’s common stance on policies of OPEC and OPEC+, the two delegations held positive talks in this regard, continued the minister.

Shifting to gas barter, he said, “We expressed our readiness for collecting sour and rich gas in Iraq and exporting sweet gas to the neighboring state.”

Training Iraq’s human resources in Iranian petroleum universities and research centers and exporting techno-engineering services to Iraq were among the topics the two sides agreed on, Owji said.

He voiced hope the executive operations of projects, particularly the development of joint fields by both Iran and Iraq, will be carried out as soon as possible. / Mehr