Iran’s oil minister says key equipment used in oil and gas fields is currently manufactured inside the country without any direct support of the industrial giants of the world.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Monday that equipment made by the Oil Turbo Compressor Company (OTC) is currently used across Iran’s oil and gas industry and on a wide scale.
“More than 200 set of 25-megawatt turbines and compressors have been supplied by the OTC across the country, all of them manufactured inside (Iran) and relying on the domestic knowledge,” said Zanganeh while visiting an OTC production site in Tehran.
The minister said that the OTC, once a partner with German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG, had been awarded around €3.6 billion worth of contracts on manufacturing and maintenance of devices used in the oil and gas industry.
He said the company had also made an investment of around €200 million to expand its services in the field.
Zanganeh admitted the fact that Siemens, once responsible for the bulk of the work on turbines and compressors in Iran’s oil and gas industry, had fulfilled its commitments on technology transfer to its Iranian partner before it stopped doing business in Iran under the pressure of the sanctions.
“One should be fair, Siemens technology transfer was perfect as it has provided the staff of this company (OTC) with proper training,” he said while insisting that Siemens withdrawal from Iran in 2010 triggered the process for indigenization of key oilfield equipment in the country.
Zanganeh said Siemens has certified the compressors and turbines manufactured by the OTC, allowing Iran to use the equipment in the oil and gas industry with more confidence.