Date: 01 Mar 2000
Time: 07:55:27
Remote Name: 156.29.145.175
* Zanganeh: Oil Ministry Plans Substitutes for Oil Derivatives
IRAN NEWS ECONOMICAL DESK
TEHRAN -- Agreements are to be concluded on the phases 4,5,6,7 and 8 of the South Pars Oil Field during the future months. Making the remark in a press interview yesterday, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that contracts on OIMC, Salman Field, Nosrat Field and Farzan Field would be signed soon. Also elaborating on a proposed fund in which to set aside excess oil revenues, Zanganeh said the move is among the important measures taken up by the Khatami Administration to lessen the nation's dependency on oil revenues should the prices fall. Zanganeh said the "best price" for oil is the one which is neither too low for producers nor too high for consumers, adding, meanwhile, the fluctuations in oil prices need to be lowered as much as possible. It is not, however, easy to determine such a price at this time, he pointed out. In another development the Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, announced here yesterday that the Energy Supplies Division of his ministry has been working on a program for the last two and a half years to find suitable substitutes for oil derivatives, IRNA reported. Addressing the Third Seminar of Energy and Economy, Zanganeh said since the transmission of gas to certain remote rural or tropical urban regions is not economical, there are plans to replace gas with electricity in the region. He said the Oil Ministry will provide subsidy for the energy (electricity) used in those regions. Zanganeh said given the high cost of gasoline import, research studies are being conducted to replace gasoline with compressed natural gas in cars. He said the project would be beneficial since it would reduce gasoline consumption and help keep environment clean. The minister said there are also plans to modernize present cooling system to a gas fuel, thus increasing natural gas consumption in summer and reducing the use of other oil derivatives. Mohammad Aqaie, the deputy oil minister for refining and distributing oil derivatives told the seminar that the Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2000-2005) seeks to develop proper energy management patterns in the society. Meanwhile, Mahdi Husseini, deputy oil minister and head of the seminar, said Iran should gain its due status in the world gas market in view of its rich gas reserves and high potential in the natural gas sector. He said Iran has no status in the world gas market and if it does not act to change the situation, other countries would fill the gap. He pointed out that the annual growth in domestic gas consumption stands at eight percent. He said expansion of oil and gas reserves is a necessity because increase in oil production would result in higher foreign exchange revenues and their absorption into the national economy. Mohammad-Ali Seyed Abrishami, deputy industries minister in charge of metal industries, said a better future can be guaranteed for the country on the basis of energy but that depends on investment in the discovery of new oil and gas fields and exploitation of new energy resources. He said through investment in the downstream sectors of oil and gas, one can obtain products with higher value-added. He said education of the public, amendment of energy prices, utilization of new energy resources, planned decrease in consumption of energy and recycling of energy are among ways to reduce energy consumption in the country. Aqaie called for production of cars with low fuel consumption and installation of injectors on cars to rectify energy consumption. He said that his ministry had improved certain home appliances such as refrigerators which consume lesser energy and that similar operations are under way on other home appliances such as washing machines and air conditioners. Mansoor Daftarian, secretary of the seminar, said the value of energy consumption in Iran is $20 billion per year. This calls for more attention to the issue of energy by country's management, he added. Tehran's Mayor Morteza Alviri, who also spoke at the seminar, urged improvement of cars' fuel system to consume less gasoline, installation of gas-fuelled systems in cars, expansion of public transportation network, technical examination of cars, improvement of traffic management and education of drivers and people so as to reduce consumption of energy and air pollution. Alviri also called for reduction of energy consumption in the household, industry and transportation sectors. He said that Tehran Municipality is to draw up a 10-year program to reduce air pollution in Tehran. He called for a logical price for energy so as to meet costs for expansion of public transportation and controlling pollution. Those polluting air should bear the cost for controlling pollution, he said. The per capita energy consumption is 14 times more for intracity trips by private automobile than by public mass transportation system. Travel by taxis reduces energy consumption by three times, Alviri concluded.