Iran, Italy discuss cooperation in oil, petrochemical industries
Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has discussed development of oil, gas, and petrochemical projects with a high-ranking Italian delegation, saying that European states are showing green light to their companies to cooperate with Iran.
According to the reports, speaking to reporters following his meeting with an Italian delegation headed by the country’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran on Wednesday, Zanganeh said Iran's oil industry needs cooperation of Italian companies in projects that are underway in the Caspian Sea and for increasing oil recovery from Iranian fields.
Noting that development of cooperation in oil, gas and petrochemical industries has been the main theme of his talks with the Italian delegation, the Iranian minister noted that before imposition of sanctions, “Iran cooperated with Italian companies for the development of various phases of the South Pars gas field as well as some southwestern Iranian oil fields, including Darkhoein.”
He said Italian refineries used Iran's oil before sanctions were imposed on Iran's oil sector and they can restart importing Iran oil once sanctions are removed.
Zanganeh further noted that before sanctions, Italian companies were major partners for Iran's petrochemical firms and played an important role in the construction of petrochemical plants, technology transfer and financing petrochemical projects in Iran.
The oil minister added that production of needed equipment for Iranian oil industry was another major topic of his talks with Italian delegation, emphasizing that “such equipment will not only be used in the Iranian market, but will also meet the needs of other markets in the region.”