Iran’s media revealed that the country plans to sell bonds worth a total of about $1.7 b next year, reported Press TV.

The bonds will be sold in rials and euros in domestic and foreign banks, beginning 21 March 2016-2017, as part of a campaign to drum up funds for expanding the country’s oil production capacity by about 300,000 b/d and its gas production capacity by 48.6 mcm/day.

According to IHS estimates, cited by Energy Global, Iran’s petrochemical capacity is 60 million t, with a special focus on the country’s huge ethane-rich natural gas resources. Iran’s ethylene production costs are generally comparable to those in Saudi Arabia or North America.

Michael Smith, Vice President of Europe, Middle East and Africa at IHS Chemical, said: “If you are a global petrochemical producer looking at Iran for its investment and growth opportunity, and you can forget for a minute about the major business and political risks involved, it presents an attractive opportunity. Major chemical players … are used to operating in risky environments and managing significant risk—it’s the nature of the business, but the reward has to significantly outweigh the risk, which is something they will be assessing very carefully and deliberately.”