SHANA - The managing director of Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) says an Iranian consortium has been awarded the development of Khark Island's natural gas liquids (NGL) project.

Hamid Bovard said Ghadir Investment Company and the SAFF Group has formed a consortium for development of the project.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the 37th anniversary of IOOC's establishment, Bovard said IOOC will sign a build-operate-transfer (BOT) deal with the consortium for developing the project in a period of 3 years.

He further said that the ceiling of investment for IOOC projects has been designated at 1.8 billion dollars by the government, adding the company is seeking mechanisms to raise the ceiling to $5b.

According to the law, IOOC can allow attraction of investments of up to $1.8 billion dollars to be returned from sale of crude oil and gas.