Javad Owji, speaking on Sunday
on the sidelines of his visit to the 17th International Iran Plast Exhibition
among reporters, said: “Holding exhibitions such as Iran Plast has put us in
touch with the latest achievements in the plastic industry over the past year.”
He added, "Iran
Plast is not merely an exhibition; it is also about showcasing capabilities,
equipment, and tools used in this field. This event provides an excellent
opportunity for manufacturers to become acquainted with each other's
capabilities in terms of offering technical and engineering services and
more."
Regarding the Ministry of
Petroleum's cooperation with Russia, Owji stated: "Currently, we have a
development contract for seven major oil fields with large and capable Russian
companies, with some of these fields already in the production phase. We also
have agreements at the upstream and downstream levels with companies, including
Gazprom Russia, and we hope these agreements will soon turn into
contracts."
He addressed the latest
developments regarding the Arash field, saying: "As we have stated before,
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also announced, the Islamic Republic of
Iran will not forgo its share in the Arash field."
The Minister of Petroleum
continued: "Thankfully, with negotiations carried out by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, similar to other joint fields we are developing with
neighboring countries through negotiations, we expect to resolve the issues
related to this field through negotiations with the Kuwaiti side."
Regarding the latest
developments in the Miandoab Petrochemical Project, he mentioned: "Any
project that has received environmental protection organization approval in the
country will be operational."
He also touched upon the
export of gas condensates, stating: "Gas condensate sales were one of the
concerns of this administration at the beginning of its term. Unfortunately, in
the previous administration, we had nearly 78 million barrels of gas
condensates floating on the water. Proposals were made in this regard, and
correspondences by the former Minister of Petroleum with the former President
and Ibrahim Raisi, the president of the 13th administration, regarding the
purchase of 12 ships for storing gas condensates are available."
The Minister of Petroleum
continued: "Thankfully, with the start of the 13th administration and
Jihad efforts in the Ministry of Petroleum, we have found desirable markets in
this sector. Both domestic consumption of gas condensates in the country has
increased, and we have found very desirable markets for exports."
Owji stated that Iran's
gas condensate production is close to 700,000 to 750,000 barrels per day and
said: "In the gas condensate sector, we have commitments and consumption
beyond our production, despite the fact that we don't have a single barrel on
the water."
Regarding the administration's
plans to complete the value chain, he said: "In the past two decades,
there hasn't been much administration attention to the value chain, especially
in the petrochemical sector. Most of the investments were in the production of
basic materials or mother industries of petrochemicals. Fortunately, in this administration,
numerous projects have been identified, studies conducted, and some of these
projects have been initiated, mainly by the private sector."
The Minister of Petroleum
emphasized that they intend to enter the value chain until the end of the 13th administration
as much as possible, stating that entering these sectors is sanctions-proof. He
added: "Entering these sectors brings good foreign currency, job creation,
prevents raw sales, and achieves a resilient economy."
Regarding the sanctions, Owji
mentioned that despite the sanctions, more than 212 foreign companies have
participated in this exhibition, adding: "Gradually, sanctions are
becoming meaningless and ineffective for Iran's oil and gas industry. We have
been able to achieve significant accomplishments in this sector with the
efforts of our 10,000 experts in the oil industry. Regarding exports, wherever
we wish, we carry out exports."
He noted that the growth
of the oil and gas economic group based on Central Bank data was over 10% in
1400 and 1401 and said: "This is the highest economic growth compared to
other economic groups, which is evident due to the increased production of oil
and gas, petroleum products, and petrochemicals."