TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji has said his ministry is making necessary arrangements and planning for attracting $125 billion of foreign and domestic investment in the country’s oil industry within the next four to eight years, Shana reported.

Making the remarks in a meeting with the Head of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec)'s Tehran office on Tuesday, Oji said the 13th administration is determined to bolster cooperation with Chinese companies.

The minister mentioned the long history of cooperation with Sinopec and stated that he was familiar with Sinopec's ability to implement upstream and downstream projects.

“Last week, during my visit to the operational areas of Khuzestan province, I visited Yadavaran field, the first phase of which was developed by this company (Sinopec), and I was informed about the details of the development of the first phase of this field.” he stated.

The official stressed the importance of completing the development of the Yadavaran field as a joint field between Iran and Iraq, and said: "Fortunately, Sinopec is fully acquainted with Iran and its oil and gas fields and has been present in the first phase of Yadavaran field development."

The oil minister further stated that the 13th administration presided over by Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, is ready to cooperate fully with Chinese companies to develop oil industry projects in the upstream and downstream sectors, adding: "We expect to have many partnerships and agreements between Iran and China."

Emphasizing the 13th administration’s view of China as a friendly and closely aligned country with Iran, he said: "We plan to attract $145 billion of investment for the development of the upstream and downstream oil industry over the next four to eight years; hence I welcome the presence of domestic and foreign investors in the industry.”

EF/MA