TEHRAN (Iran News) – Azar Oil Field which is placed in Ilam province, southwest Iran, was developed with 1.4 billion Euros in the fund, jointly financed by National Development Fund, Oil Ministry, and Bank loans. 75 percent of the project is domestic and 55 percent of human forces involved are local.

This project increases oil production in Azar joint oil field to 65,000 bpd.

In the 53rd national campaign program pertaining to infrastructure projects, also, Kangan Petro Refining plant, which is the largest feed provider for petrochemical plants in Iran, was launched upon the President’s order.

The ethane recovery unit of the Kangan plant that has absorbed 970 million dollars of investment is now operating with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons. The unit produces 1.75 million tons of ethane, one million tons of propane, 500,000 tons of butane, and 250 tons of pentane on a yearly basis and generates about one billion dollars of annual income.

The plant has relied on 100 percent Iranian designing and engineering and 65 percent of equipment has been supplied domestically.

Rouhani also broke the ground virtually for starting construction of the Kian petrochemical plant with 5.659 billion dollars in investment, creating 2,125 jobs.

In the event, the President underlined that historically Iran’s annual budget has been greatly reliant on the oil money, but his administration managed to reduce the reliance significantly.

He also stated that Iran was surpassed by neighboring country Qatar in extracting oil from joint South Pars oil field; however, the administration succeeded to reverse the trend and now Iran’s share of extraction is equal or even a bit more than Qatar.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on local manufacturers to focus on non-oil exports and expanding access to world markets as an effective instrument for defeating the sanctions.

Speaking at a Sunday session of the Administration’s Economic Coordination Headquarters, Rouhani described non-oil exports as the key to Iran’s participation in the global economy.

“The promotion of non-oil exports is highly significant as a powerful instrument of the resistance economy for countering the US’ cruel and illegal sanctions,” he added.

The president also called on Iranian non-oil producers to improve the quality of products and honor the business commitments to boost exports.

Iran has diversified its exports in recent years to cut off reliance on the petrodollars, particularly after the escalation of the US sanctions in 2018.

The government has formulated plans for the expansion of non-oil exports to stimulate growth in production, employment, and the supply of currency.