Press TV - Oil bourse opens in Iran's Kish Island

Press TV - Oil bourse opens in Iran's Kish Island

Oil bourse opens in Iran's Kish Island
Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:08:18

Iran's oil minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari

Iran's oil bourse will pave the way for the country's more active presence in international crude transactions, oil minister says.

Although Iran's oil resources were discovered more than a hundred years ago, its oil sector has so far played only a minor role in international oil markets, IRNA reported Gholam-Hossein Nozari as saying.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse in Kish Island, Nozari pointed out that it was important for Iran to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets.

"All major currencies of the world will be used in transactions in Iran's oil bourse," he added.

He pointed out that Iran has produced a total of some 63 billion barrels of crude oil over past century.

He put the volume of natural gas produced in the same period at about 3 trillion cubic meters, noting that while part of it was being used for domestic consumption, a significant part is being converted into petrochemical products.

Referring to potential transactions in oil products through the oil bourse, the Oil Minister said, “Our annual petrochemical output currently stands at 20 million tons, which is expected to reach 23 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, with good prospects of increasing it to some 45 million tons by the end of next year.”

Iran's oil and petrochemical bourse officially started operation in Kish Island on the Persian Gulf following inauguration speeches given by Nozari and Iran's Minister of Financial an Economic Affair, Davoud Danesh Ja'fari.