Tehran, Feb. 27 (Shana) - Senior officials of Iran and Indonesia signed an agreement on cooperation in the areas of oil, gas and petrochemicals. An Iranian delegation left to Indonesia on Tuesday to participate in the first economic commission meeting on oil, gas, and petrochemicals held between the two countries, IRNA reported from Kuala Lumpur.

The agreement was reached between Director General for Asia and Pacific at the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum Marziyeh Riyahi and Indonesia's Director General for Oil and Gas at the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Wiratmaja Puja.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudriman Said, who was present in the signing ceremony, said his country is determined to resume cooperation with Iran as one of the biggest oil producers around the world.

Last October, Sudriman and Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh met in Tehran following which Zangeneh said that Tehran supports Jakarta�s proposal to return to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

�Iran is interested to cooperate with Indonesia in crude oil, gas condensate, and LNG export,� Zangeneh told Shana adding, �Indonesia can also invest in Iran�s oil, gas and petrochemical projects.�

He said that Iran can also participate in construction of refineries in Indonesia in a way mutually attractive to both sides and hoped that the urea fertilizer production project in Iran which was put on hold because of sanctions will be taken up again between the two countries.

The Indonesian minister said his country needs oil and gas and that Tehran and Jakarta can cooperate in this area.

�Indonesia is developing and progressing, and both countries enjoy mutual capabilities to be activated,� Sudriman added.

Jakarta wants to return to OPEC where it used to be a major oil producer and is looking for investment in this sector as it has turned to an importer of energy.

Iran and Indonesia have agreed to construct small-size refineries of 20,000 to 300,000 bpd capacity in Indonesia. The joint venture project is worth around 3 billion dollars in which Iran has a 30 percent share.

Indonesia is importing 817,000 barrels of oil daily.

By SHANA