n a visit to the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh emphasized the need to take the most out of available export capacities in the province saying “despite certain barriers on conducting exports to Iraq, the existing issues are surmountable with the help of local investors.”
Pointing to significance of the Iraqi market for Khuzestan, the senior oil official said “Iraq offers the nearest market to the Iranian province and the volume of exports to the neighboring country still has room to go up.”
In view of current demands in the Iraqi market, various types of agricultural and industrial products can be deployed to the neighboring country through Khuzestan province.
“Ignoring the market in Iraq can cause irreparable damages to the province’s economy hence the need to hold a special meeting for scrutinizing the issue of exports to the Iraqi market,” he underlined.
Iran’s oil minister said several downstream units could be constructed in a bid to produce and ship commodities required by Iraqis since they are currently far from suitable conditions for manufacturing products on their own.
Later into his remarks, Zanganeh stated that Tehran has planned to construct second phase of the Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex in a 1,000-hectare area in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
The minister added that the volume of Iran’s gas exports to Iraq would increase remarkably with proper future planning.