Page 34 - IRANRptAug19

8.4 Fixed income
8.4.1 Fixed income - bond news
National Iranian Oil to issue IRR 20bn of fixed rate bonds in mid-March
Iran badly needs foreign investment to boost output from its oil and gas reserves because much of its hydrocarbon production has been restricted or crippled by years of Western sanctions.
A manager at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) said on March 12 there were 200 undeveloped oil and gas fields in Iran. “The recovery rate of Iranian fields is 10% lower than the average rate of recovery in the world,” Karim Zobeidi, NIOC’s deputy for planning, was quoted as saying by Shana.
The chief executive of NIOC, Masoud Karbasian, was cited as saying at the same time by the news agency that the company would issue 20 billion Iranian rial ($476,000 or $154,000 at the free market exchange rate) of fixed-rate (Manfa’at) bonds in mid-March.
The bonds would help finance the development of NIOC’s oil and gas projects, Karbasian said. They were to be sold on the Fara Bourse, an over-the-counter market for securities in Tehran.
9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Iran plans to build new petrochemical hub
Petroleum minister says Iran exempted from OPEC output cut
Iran plans to create a petrochemical hub in Bandar-e Mahshahr in the southwest of the country, official energy news agency SHANA has reported.
Bandar-e Mahshahr, in Khuzestan province, is known as a chemical industry city. It is home to a petrochemical special economic zone (“Petzone”) and dispatches substantial shipments of petrochemicals for export.
Final construction decisions for the hub would be made soon, the general manager of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Behzad Mohammadi, was cited as saying, adding: “Mahshahr is a petrochemical centre and a key player in Iran’s petrochemical industry,.. maintaining the status quo in the region and developing the new centre are the main goals sought in Mahshahr”. According to the draft plans for the industrial centre, which will be developed within 5 to 15 years, it should eventually be the site of producers outputting 5-6mn tonnes of petrochemical products per year, Iran.ru reported.
Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the first grouping of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was “good”, adding that Iran was exempted from production cuts, SHANA and Tasnim news agencies reported on July 2.
Iran, with US sanctions placed on the sale of its oil, gas and condensates, continues to make deliveries via the grey market to a few remaining countries including China . However, any country found out to be sidestepping US
34 IRAN Country Report August 2019
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