[caption id="attachment_151366" align="alignright" width="164"] Iran�s petroleum minister
Bijan Namdar Zangeneh[/caption]
TEHRAN Feb 16(Shana)--Iran�s petroleum minister has said that the country�s petroleum industry needs finance.
�The petroleum industry needs financial resources,� Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said.
�When the oil price was at $100 and we sold two million barrels of oil, the Petroleum Ministry�s share was $13 billion. But for next [fiscal] year, the parliament has predicted the oil price at around $40 a barrel and exports are a bit higher than 1 million barrels and Petroleum Ministry will get less than $3 billion. How can we run the petroleum industry with this [meager] money,� he asked parliamentarians. Iran�s fiscal year starts on March 21.
Zangeneh said the Petroleum Ministry�s share of oil sales should increase from 14.5% to 30% so that it could accelerate development of joint oil and gas fields.
He said Iran invested $21 billion in the oil sector in the calendar year to March 2012 and $17 billion in the following year.

"With this trend, investment from our own resources will be nil next year,� he said.
Zangeneh warned that any blow to the oil sector would �destroy the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI)� which is the country�s rain day kitty awash with petrodollars.
By SHANA