TEHRAN, Feb. 22 (Shana) -- Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran can become the hub of technical petroleum equipment manufacturing and export with the cooperation of Siemens.

Following a meeting with Joe Kaeser, president and chief executive officer of Siemens, in Tehran, the Iranian official underlined century-long presence of the German firm in Iran, saying the company has been mostly active in power industry and has had long-term presence in Iran's petroleum industry.

The company began its cooperation with Iran's petroleum industry by providing turbo-compressors and offered many compressors to Iran's gas sector.

"Iran has become a considerable power in the region in production of gas turbo-compressors," said Zangeneh.

He said Iran had ordered many turbines and compressors from Siemens before the sanctions but their transfer was halted after international embargoes were imposed on Tehran. The equipment was purchased for development projects in South Pars gas field, Iran LNG facilities and Persian Gulf Star Refinery.

"Iran looks at Siemens with an eye on the future, and the company has promised it will accelerate cooperation with Iran in delivery of compressors and turbines and their installation," the Iranian official said.

Zangeneh added Siemens can start producing equipment jointly with Iranian companies and export them to regional markets with the Siemens brand.

Unblocking Equipment

Iranian minister of petroleum further said Siemens can start joint ventures with any Iranian company. The German firm has already started plans to work with Oil Turbo Compressor Company (OTC).

"Iran needs to withdraw more gas requiring it to purchase rotary machinery and wellhead compressors and Siemens can be a good partner for Iran in this field."

By SHANA