TEHRAN - Seven domestic companies have signed deals with National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) in order to manufacture the company’s required equipment and parts in various fields, Shana reported.

The deals, worth a total of 930 billion rials (about $3.522 million), were signed on Wednesday on the sidelines of Ahvaz Specialized Oil Industry Exhibition (Ahvaz Oil Show) in the southwestern Khouzestan Province.

These contracts include the manufacturing of spare parts for turbines and compressors, as well as anti-corrosion materials, and drilling muds which are used in the process of oil extraction and drilling operations.

The contracts were signed by Yousef Mazraeh-Fard, NISOC director of procurement and commodity affairs, and heads of the mentioned companies including Turbine Machine M.E., Mapna Mavad Karan, Payvaran Parsian Company, Ekbatan Petrokar, Mehrtash Sepahan Company, Isfahan Copolymer Company, and Kian Eksin Company.

Attended by 210 domestic companies and manufacturers, Ahvaz Specialized Oil Industry Exhibition was held during February 6-9 in southwestern Ahvaz city in Khouzestan Province.

The indigenization and domestic production of oil and gas industry equipment have been always among the objectives of the Iranian Oil Ministry. However, the issue became further highlighted since the re-imposition of the U.S. sanctions and Washington’s determination for cutting off the Islamic Republic’s ties with the world advances in knowledge and technology, especially in the oil and gas sector.

In this regard, over the past few years, the ministry has been seriously supporting knowledge-based companies and startups and several events, exhibitions, and panels have been held to encourage the mentioned companies’ contribution to the country’s oil and gas industry.

Back in January, Oil Minister Javad Oji said domestic producers are currently supplying over 70 percent of the oil industry’s needed equipment, adding that this figure can increase to 95 percent.

Speaking in a meeting with the representatives of the country’s oil and gas equipment manufacturers, Oji said: “Currently, a major part of the equipment and parts needed by all sectors (upstream and downstream) are supplied by domestic manufacturers.”

The minister noted that various meetings have been held with domestic executors and contractors to ensure the implementation of the oil industry projects, adding: “We have also had several meetings with members of parliament about the next year’s budget bill because since most of the budget funding comes from the oil industry we have to pay close attention to it.”

EF/MA