“The petroleum industry needs financial resources,” Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said.
“When the oil price was at $100 and we sold two million barrels of oil, the Petroleum Ministry’s share was $13 billion. But for next [fiscal] year, the parliament has predicted the oil price at around $40 a barrel and exports are a bit higher than 1 million barrels and Petroleum Ministry will get less than $3 billion. How can we run the petroleum industry with this [meager] money,” he asked parliamentarians. Iran’s fiscal year starts on March 21.
Zangeneh said the Petroleum Ministry’s share of oil sales should increase from 14.5% to 30% so that it could accelerate development of joint oil and gas fields.
He said Iran invested $21 billion in the oil sector in the calendar year to March 2012 and $17 billion in the following year.
"With this trend, investment from our own resources will be nil next year,” he said.
Zangeneh warned that any blow to the oil sector would “destroy the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI)” which is the country’s rain day kitty awash with petrodollars.
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