Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said oil was discovered in the countrys southwestern Abadan region for the first time.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is planning to issue Rls. 30,000 billion in fixed rate bonds by the end of the current calendar year to March 20 in order to finance projects aimed at maintaining and enhancing production capacity of oil and gas fields.

Iranian Central Oil Fields Company Signed 3 Contracts with Local Firms for Maintaining, Enhancing Oil Production capacity of a number of ICOFC fields in three operational regions.

A senior official with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the company viewed northern oil-rich regions as a priority just like southern areas for development of the oil industry.

A senior Iranian energy official said the country was supplying a total of 800 million cubic meters/day of natural gas or 5 mbd of oil equivalent.

Head of Irans Chamber of Commerce Gholamhossein Shafei said the country, given its vast oil and gas reserves was the safest, most reliable energy supplier for India.

The fifth meeting of the Energy Committee of Iran and Austria, chaired by the directors general of Europe, the United States and the Caspian states Department of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum and Director General of Energy of the Austrian Ministry of Economy was held in Vienna from 14 to 17 January.

The Iranian minister of foreign affairs said Tehran would welcome investments by Indians in Iran’s oil, gas and petrochemical projects.

Each year brings new research showing that oil and natural gas wells leak significant amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said despite the fact that among the oil-exporting countries in the region, Irans budget was the least dependent on petrodollars, the macroeconomic policy of the country “is to reduce the dependence of the budget on oil revenues."