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TEHRAN, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran's oil minister said here Sunday that the country's oil industry needs an investment of 200 billion U.S. dollars in the next five years, semi-official Fars news agency reported.
"In the sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2016-2021), the oil industry will need 200 billion U.S. dollars investment, of which 130 billion dollars would go to the upstream sector," Bijan Namdar Zangeneh told an energy seminar in Tehran.
The minister said investment in oil industry should be taken seriously as it is linked with the national economy.
Development of Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) is the key strategy, which Tehran is still working on, to attract investment and upgrade the country's oil industry.
Iran's IPC, if implemented, would help the country attract finance from Asian and European investors. The new contracts are replacing traditional Iranian "buy-back" contracts which are no longer attractive to foreign companies.
Under the contracts, the National Iranian Oil Company will set up joint ventures for crude oil production with international companies which will be paid with a share of the output.
Iran and the world powers reached a nuclear deal last July, which was implemented in January and is expected to enable the country to re-engage with energy firms of the world to develop its oil and gas fields.
