Iran's oil minister urged for the acceleration in oil and gas production in light of competition from other new and renewable energy sources, according to Iranian oil ministry's news outlet Shana on Wednesday who reported the Iran’s petroleum minister's televised interview.
'The end of the oil age will be caused by the introduction of new technologies rather than the depletion of existing oil reserves,' Bijan Zangeneh said.
Speaking during the interview late Wednesday, Zangeneh emphasized the role that technological advancements play in replacing the world's new and renewable energy.
“We should do our best to produce maximum oil. The development of technology is increasing day by day and we may reach a point where oil can no longer compete with new energies,” he said.
He advised that oil revenues be deposited into Iran's National Development Fund (NDFI) for use in developing petrochemical plants, petro-refineries and other industries.
'If we do not produce oil today, maybe one day we will need to get international permission to sell oil [in terms of the environment],' he said.
Referring to the speedy development and deployment of other energies, he said, “We must also produce the maximum amount of natural gas, because endorsement of alternative energies by the society is not going to take a hundred years.”
- Production capacity of joint oil fields increases
He lauded the increased daily production capacity from the oil field cluster in the west of Karoun River, which increased six times to 400,000 barrels from 70,000 barrels in 2013.
He also expressed hope that the daily oil production capacity from the region would soon exceed one million barrels.
Zangeneh said that daily oil production capacity of the Azar joint field would soon reach 60,000 barrels and briefed that new contracts were recently signed for the development of the Azar and West Paydar fields as well as the Forouzan and Resalat fields.
Data from the International Energy Agency showed that Iran's proven oil reserves were almost 157 billion barrels in 2018 to rank fourth in the world and second globally for natural gas.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr