Iran sets up fund to finance oil ventures

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Faced with the prospect of tougher sanctions over its nuclear programme and with western investors pulling out, Iran has set up a fund to help finance the development of its crucial oil and gas sector, and has implicitly asked its neighbours for help.

“The National Energy Fund, with the help of the resources of four local banks and the central bank, has been established to help finance major parts of the oil industry’s activities,” the official IRNA news agency yesterday quoted the oil minister Massoud Mirkazemi as saying.

While suggesting Tehran would encourage domestic companies to play a greater role in Iran’s major oil and gas developments, he also reached out to neighbouring countries, saying the fund would enable local and foreign firms to participate in energy ventures.