Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurating energy projects in southern Iran, July 11, 2013<\/p>\n
Iran\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has inaugurated several energy projects in southern Iran, saying the Islamic Republic\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s oil industry is now majorly run by Iranian experts.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cEight years ago, early after the instatement of the 10th [Iranian] administration, the foreign oil companies that were active in Iran quit work with a mean spirit and wishfully thinking that the Iranian oil industry would come to a halt,\u201d said President Ahmadinejad on Thursday during a ceremony to inaugurate three developmental and infrastructural projects in the southern province of Hormozgan.\n<\/p>\n
Noting that the annual investment of those foreign oil companies that left Iran was less than USD 1.5 billion, the president emphasized that they regarded Iranian oil as \u00c5\u201ctheir paternal inheritance\u201d and claimed a share in \u00c5\u201cthis God-given wealth of the Iranian nation,\u201d using their investments to inflict political costs on Iran and claim ownership over most of the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s oil revenues.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Iranian president went on to note that, with the effort of the Iranian oil industry experts and labor force, nearly all the work in this sector is now being done by domestic experts.<\/p>\n
He also said that, in the past eight years, the average annual investment in Iran’s oil industry has been 15 billion dollars.\n<\/p>\n
He further noted, however, that there are still a number of foreign companies active in Iran’s oil industry \u00c5\u201cbut under equal terms\u201d as Iran, which is reflective of \u00c5\u201cthe glory, capability and flourishing of the Iranian nation\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s talents.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
President Ahmadinejad then added that, despite enemy efforts to make things difficult for the Islamic Republic, the Iranian nation will overcome all difficulties, \u00c5\u201csince Iranians are a great nation with 7,000 years of bright civilizational history.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Pointing to the benefits of the new developmental and infrastructural projects in Hormozgan, the president referred to the oil in the Hengam zone as \u00c5\u201chigh-quality\u201d and said that the achievement made in the area was \u00c5\u201cvery huge and valuable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In order to increase the production capacity at the Hengam Oil Field, the drilling in the project is conducted at sea, where oil and gas exploration facilities are installed\u2026, \u00c5\u201cwhich is technically a very sophisticated and great task,\u201d Ahmadinejad further said.\n<\/p>\n
The Iranian president also vowed that the Iranian Persian Gulf Island of Qeshm will soon turn into \u00c5\u201cone of the nation\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s largest oil and gas zones,\u201d providing thousands of job opportunities for the people of the island.\n<\/p>\n
He also said the projects for increasing the mineral and industrial capacity of the wharf at Iran\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Persian Gulf special economic zone as well as a ship building and repair facility in the area were \u00c5\u201ctechnically very advanced\u201d and were a major step toward Iranian self-sufficiency in the field.\n<\/p>\n
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