Iran’s Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said on Tuesday that the country has to invest some more $160 billion on oil and gas industry.
He regretted about failing to make enough investment on the Iranian oil and gas industry over the past years, noting that more investments are needed to meet the needs of the country in this area.
“If we fail to pay for development, we will become an importer of these products in the future,” the minister said.
When he was proposed by President Ebrahim Raeisi to take over the role of Iran’s oil minister in the new administrative government in August, Owji said he would push for increased natural gas output beyond the current enviable record of nearly 1 billion cubic meters (3.5 billion cubic feet) per day.
He released a plan for the Oil Ministry post which showed he was keen to further boost gas production capacity to respond to a growing domestic demand in Iran.