The 20th International Iran Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition starts in the Tehran Permanent Fairground today and will run until May 9. The inauguration ceremony is to be attended by the Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh among several high-profile figures.
Close to 1,200 domestic as well as 600 foreign firms are participating in the ‘Iran Oil Show 2015’, according to head of the policy-making commission for the ‘Iran Oil Show 2015’.
Akbar Nematollahi said companies from Russia, China, Italy, Germany, France, the UK and the UAE, among others, are present in the exhibition and delegations from Norway and Poland are planned to attend the four-day event.
Utilizing domestic potentials in the oil and gas industries in line with the ‘economy of resistance’ – a policy proposed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to promote domestic growth - is the focus of the exhibition, he said.
Taking stock of the new economic and political prospect following negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program, “There is special attention to developing domestic potentials and knowledge-based companies,” Nematollahi said.
He added that a final nuclear agreement would pave the way for stronger presence of foreign companies in Iranian oil, gas and petrochemicals projects and “renovation of domestic industries.”
The official underlined the Iran Oil Show as one of the top five exhibitions of its kind in the world. “Some countries are absent in the exhibition, but will attend next year’s event upon the lifting of sanctions.” Last year’s exhibition was attended by companies from 22 countries, but the number has dwindled to 19 in the present year.
After eight days of marathon talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, Iran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, the US plus Germany) reached a framework agreement on April 2 that calls for lifting all trade sanctions against Iran. The details of the agreement are to be finalized by a June 30 deadline.
