TEHRAN, Feb. 21 (Shana) � Minister of petroleum and Omani ministers of foreign affairs and industry met here on Sunday reviewing cooperation in oil industry including joint ventures and the pipeline project to export Iran�s gas to the Sultanate.

�I am optimistic about future of ties between the two countries,� Bijan Zangeneh said following the meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi and Oman�s Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidi.

�Iran and Oman are interested in expansion of ties and joint ventures and are attempting to take steps and create the due infrastructure to this end,� he added.

Besides the gas pipeline project, the Iranian minster said, joint ventures in refining, oil storage, and petchem was negotiated with the visiting Omani delegation.

�Oman was alongside Iran in hard times. Undoubtedly, our bilateral relations will increase in the post-sanctions era,� he said.
Iran is in talks with Muscat to tap Oman's untapped LNG capacity, said Zangeneh in January.

Having returned from a visit to Muscat, he told Shana that during the meeting with Omani Oil and Gas Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi, both sides also exchanged views on the international crude oil market.

Iran is to export natural gas to the Persian Gulf Arab state to be also converted into liquefied natural gas (LNG), said a senior Iranian gas official in January.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Alireza Kameli said, �Iran has undertaken to pump 28 million cubic meters of gas per day to Oman and it is likely that about 25 to 30 percent will be allocated to LNG.�

By SHANA