Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji announced that his ministry will contribute $4 billion in investments to developing oil and energy projects at Ilam province, a press release issued by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) reported.

Owji elaborated that his ministry will allocate $2 billion to invest in the upstream sector and the remaining $2 billion will be invested in the downstream sector during the next four or five years. These announcements were made during Owji’s visit to Azar Oil Field Development Project.

“Ilam Province sits atop about 3% of the country’s oil and gas reserves, a number of independent fields and 2 joint oil fields, and the Ministry of Petroleum has planned, through subsidiaries and the private sector, up to $2 billion of investment in the upstream sector of the oil industry of the province,” Owji added.

He noted also that the ministry is planning to establish a polypropylene (PP) park in the province adjacent to its refinery in Ilam province.