TEHRAN, March 1 (UPI) -- The National Iranian Oil Co. announced it was approved to release bonds totaling more than $6.5 billion to help build the energy sector, officials said.
Mohammad Mehdi Mofatteh, the rapporteur for a joint commission for the Iranian Parliament, said lawmakers approved the issuance of the bonds for the start of the Iranian new year, which begins March 21, state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.
"In line with reviewing next year's budget bill, the joint commission agreed to allow the National Iranian Oil Company to issue $6.78 billion of foreign currency bonds under the supervision of the Central Bank of Iran," he said.
Mofatteh said the bulk of the funds raised through the bonds would go to develop the South Pars gas field in Iran, which forms the largest gas complex in the world through shared fields with Qatar.
Tehran last week announced plans to issue at least $1 billion in bonds to help the country develop its natural resources in the face of Western sanctions.
Seifollah Jashnsaz, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Co., said there were 12 joint oil fields that the country shares with Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that need development that could be funded as well.
The NIOC chief said in February that the oil sector needed at least $10 billion to boost industrial development.
