TEHRAN - In a talk show on national TV, Iranian OIl Minister Javad Oji, explained how the late president, Ibrahim Raisi, was serious about developing oil industry projects.

During the program, Oji said that since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country had witnessed desirable achievements in the oil sector but none of them were comparable with the great steps taken during the ruling of the 13th administration; which took office in August 2021 under the leadership of President Raisi. 

“Before we come together in 13th administration, my knowledge of the late president Ayatollah Raisi was limited to his activities at holy shrine of Imam Reza but it culminated when he was elected as Iranian president and formed the cabinet in which I was appointed as the minister of petroleum,” Oji said.

The minister said in his televised interview that during the tenure of the 13th administration led by Ibrahim Raisi as the president “we witnessed great leaps forward in view of implementation of oil industry projects, developing upstream and downstream projects including developing oil and gas fields, relying on domestic capabilities, rising oil exports and specifically paying attention to social responsibility.”

Raisi insisted on people’s participation in the implementation of oil industry projects, he said adding “in the first months of the 13th administration taking office, we travelled to oil-rich regions, where by looking at flares the president got worried and ordered removing gas flares by collecting the associated gases.”

He continued: we followed the president demand seriously so that at the end of last Iranian calendar year, 1402, 20 March 2024, we succeeded in collecting 11.5 million cubic meters of associated gases per day which is going to rise to 30 million cubic meters a day at the end of current Iranian calendar year on 19 March 2025.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said: energy imbalances, optimizing energy use and joint oil and gas fields development were among the main concerns of the president so that in every meeting we had he was seeking briefing about the progress of the oil industry projects, insisting on rising production and exports, creating jobs as well as oil revenues situation.

According to Oji, the president, in all his working tours, which went beyond 10 visits to oil industry installations, was very willing to talk with experts insisting that the petroleum ministry should do its best to persuade Iranian elites and experts not to leave the country and it was after his emphasize on the issue that we could absorb more than 900 graduates of Petroleum University of Technology.

He further noted that a great part of Iran’s success to raise oil exports was due to his trips to foreign countries, in which he was presenting Iranian capabilities, trying to build confidence in relations with other countries.

The Oil Ministry was the most successful department of the administration in view of attracting foreign investment in Raisi’s administration, he said, adding the president was very insistent that selling materials as a row should be stopped.

“The 13th administration could raise oil exports by 2.5 times despite harsh sanctions.” Oji concluded.

EF/