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China to invest in Iran oil industry

21 July 2010 03:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Chinese companies have offered to finance some of the country’s oil refinery development and gasoline production projects, says Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.

"Chinese companies are currently involved in building the Arak oil refinery; we intend to expand our cooperation with different Chinese firms for other oil refinery projects in Iran," Mehr News Agency quoted Zeighami as saying.

The deputy oil minister added that the two countries have begun a new round of negotiations on China’s investment in gasoline production projects in existing refineries and the development of Isfahan and Abadan oil refineries.

Chinese companies are expanding their presence in Iran’s oil refinery sector.

Last year, Chinese refiner Sinopec signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company to invest $6.5 billion for building oil refineries in Iran.

Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil producer, plans to build seven new refineries with a total investment of $23 billion.