Tehran, Jan 6, IRNA - Although Iran ranks first in the world in terms of energy reserves and potentials, to tap and develop them it requires multi-billion-dollar investments.


�Currently, in the absence of such an investment, we have to make optimum use of the resources,� said Mansour Moazzemi, the head of the Energy Committee of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
He said that in the past, a strategic blunder was made in implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan, adding that the government was supposed to secure the fund for executing the plan through the hike in energy prices, Shana reported.
�Global energy prices are, at present, witnessing a downward trend; whereas, prices in Iran have remained almost stable. In addition, the number of subsidy recipients is increasing every year.�
He also said that the country will face serious problems in its energy sector in the future in case the government and state organizations fail to make prompt and prudent decisions.
Moazzemi said the government was supposed to allocate a portion of its earnings from the Targeted Subsidy Plan to domestic production sector, but the fund was not made available to the production, industries and agriculture sectors.
�Currently, the industrial sector is using only a small portion of its capacity and has sunk into recession. To boost industrial output, the government is required to stimulate the market demand.�
The official who is also advisor to the minister of petroleum regretted that energy consumption in Iran is three times higher than the global average.

By IRNA