TEHRAN - Iran plans to attract around $160 billion worth of domestic and foreign investment to its petroleum sector until 2029 to significantly increase its production of oil and gas, according to a new report.
The Thursday report by the official IRNA news agency said that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has outlined a seven-year investment plan under which Iran’s production of crude oil will reach 5.7 million barrels per day by 2029.
Iran’s current oil output capacity is just over 3.8 million bpd although actual production has dropped to nearly 2.6 million bpd mainly because of American sanctions that hamper direct exports of Iranian crude.
It added that Iran also seeks to meet a natural gas production target of 1.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) per day by 2029, up from a current output of just over 1 bcm per day.
The IRNA analysis said a current administrative government in Tehran, which may remain in office until 2029 under a second four-year term, has already secured nearly $50 billion worth of investment for development projects in the Iranian petroleum sector.
It said the commitments include a memorandum of understanding reached earlier this week between the NIOC and Russia’s state petroleum company Gazprom for up to $40 billion worth of investment in oil and gas projects.
Others include contracts signed in early July with a consortium of Iranian banks and energy companies to carry out development projects in oilfields shared with Iraq in southwestern Iran.
The report also said that the NIOC had signed a $500-million contract in March with a foreign company, whose name it said would remain confidential because of U.S. sanctions, to develop the oil layer of the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.
NIOC chief:

3 Phases of SP Refinery 14 to Come on Stream
The Chief Executive of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojastehmehr announced that three other phases of Refinery 14 of South Pars Gas Field will be put into operation, costing $2.5 billion, by end of current year (to end Mar. 2023).
Khojastehmehr said that the country took a giant stride in the development of its share in the world’s largest gas field i.e. South Pars since the 13th government under President Raisi took power.
In addition to supplying and purchasing all required goods, the drilling operation of wells is on the verge of completion, he said, adding that Phase 11 of South Pars Gas will be put into operation before termination of the current year.
Moreover, three other phases of Refinery 14 of South Pars Gas Field, costing $2.5 billion, will become operational by the end of the current year, the NIOC chief added.