The West Karoun oilfields have the capacity to produce up to one million barrels per day if there are additional investment and technology, Zanganeh said, according to Shana.

Zanganeh said last year that Iran aimed to produce 300,000 barrels of oil per day from West Karoun.

Zanganeh also said more than $30 billion is required to complete unfinished petrochemical projects across the country.

He added domestic companies are able to make such an investment, but if we can get it from micro-liquidity, there would be a greater chance for development in the oil industry.

Underlining the importance of investment in the oil industry, the minister noted that, every year, more than $25 billion must be invested in the country’s oil industry and if this doesn’t happen, other sectors of the economy would also suffer the consequences.

“There is only $12 billion worth of petrochemical projects which have been finalized but have not yet been started; there are also downstream and midstream projects, which together create a $40 billion investment opportunity in the petrochemical industry,” he added.

Iran started production of extra-heavy oil with the API gravity of 20 from West Karoun reserves, especially from the South and North Azadegan fields in May 2018.

Iran now has the most variety of oil production with eight types of light and heavy crude.

Iran has an advantage in global markets due to its range of oil products. Oil from the Hengam oil and gas field is the lightest in the world, while the oil from other fields in the Persian Gulf, such as Soroush, Noruz, and Forouzan, are among the heavy brands.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of Petrol Company of Iran Rasoul Najafzadeh said on Saturday that his country is working on four petrochemical parks to accommodate plants.

Najafzadeh said Orumieh Melamine, Ilam Polypropylene, Melamine Crystal Park and Lordegan Resin Urea parks are planned to be built in Iran in the near future.

He added that the Orumieh Potassium Sulfate Unit will become operational by March, with 400,000 tons per year of production capacity.

In October 2019, the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) of Iran announced that the diversity of petrochemicals produced in Iran is expected to be enhanced by 2025 as the country is planning to realize the sector’s second and third leaps by 2025.

The first leap of the industry took place in 2011 while the second and third leaps are planned to be realized by 2021 and 2025, respectively.

Furthermore, NPC considered feedstock supply to the plants as a priority, adding that the leaps would allow domestic production of key petrochemical items in the country.