August 2011, No. 61

Exclusive 16th International Oil Show

The 16^th International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals opened in Tehran at a time that according to Hossein Porsan, manager of the exhibition, this is the first year that oil and gas companies from the United States and Canada were participating.

He added that a total of 1,550 domestic and foreign companies took part in the 16^th International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals, showing more that 20 percent growth compared to last year's event.

The official stated that the number of foreign companies is 35 percent higher than last year which is both a record and a sign that Western sanctions against Iran have failed.

This is the first year that oil and gas companies from the United States and Canada were participating.

Massoud Mirkazemi, the then Iranian minister of petroleum who attended the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition, stated that the exhibition could be a unique opportunity for cooperation between powerful Iranian companies and their international counterparts on the basis of fair cooperation.

He added that demand for oil and gas is sure to increase and Iran's strategic position as holder of the world's second biggest oil and gas reserves is a very important economic advantage in the country. "To avail ourselves of this advantage, we should be actively present in international bodies and developments."

Mirkazemi said achieving goals of the Fifth Economic Development Plan for the attraction of 150 billion dollars in foreign investment in upstream oil and gas activities, attraction of foreign investments in line with the country's national interests, speeding up development of remaining phases of South Pars gas field, increasing cooperation with friendly countries, giving priority to development of shared fields, and making the most of domestic manufacturing capacities for active presence at international level were major steps to be taken by Iran's oil and gas sector.

The first congress on the outlooks of Iran's oil industry in 2025 was also inaugurated on the sidelines of the 16^th International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals in presence of the Speaker of Parliament (Islamic Consultative Assembly), Ali Larijani.

The congress aims to review the best mechanisms for bringing economic jihad to Iran's oil industry.

Addressing the inaugural of the congress, Ali Larijani noted that despite scientific advances, fossil fuels still accounted for 70 percent of the world's energy resources.

He added that energy transactions were not ordinary exchanges, but strategic ones which entailed strategic costs. "Therefore, we have specified in the contents of the Fifth Economic Development Plan Act that the government should come up with a strategic plan for the sector in a matter of six months."

The parliament speaker also stated that a new model of behavior should be formulated on the basis of fair trade between buyer and seller.

Larijani noted that Iran's new year Budget Act pursued the same goal in order to help the country achieve the Fifth Economic Development Plan's goals through cooperation between Ministry of Petroleum and parliament's Energy Commission.