Iranian oil minister: Goodbye sanctions

"Despite sanctions and threats, we have no problems in upstream oil industries, including production, and therefore we can say today: goodbye sanctions," Qassemi told reporters on Tuesday. "Fortunately the Iranian industrialists showed that they can do great things and therefore there is no need to the foreign countries," he added. He described the petrochemical industries as one of Iran's strong points and advantages, and said, "Iran can be more successful than the past in the petrochemical industries due to its giant gas reserves." Qassemi had also earlier stressed Iran's self-sufficiency in producing the needed parts for its oil industry, and said the country is trying to cut its dependence on foreign suppliers in this regard completely. "Tehran has no concern about its technical needs and is capable of building whatever its oil industry needs," Qassemi said in January. Earlier, a senior Iranian gas official had said that Iran is able to produce and supply all the parts needed for its gas refineries. Speaking to reporters in Iran's Southern port city of Assalouyeh, Director for Coordination and Supervision of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Mehdi Jamshidi Dana said that the company has implemented several projects to maintain self-sufficiency in the production of the parts needed for its gas refineries. He said that establishment of a data bank for spare parts and chemical materials, a data bank of the local resources of parts for gas refineries, the technical specifications of the needed spare parts and setting up of self-sufficiency committees are among the projects implemented for reaching and maintaining the self sufficiency. Jamshidi Dana further announced that 160 projects are currently underway in the country's gas refineries in a bid to increase production capacity and boost stability in gas production. Iran has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas (15% of the world's total). Iran possesses roughly 10 percent of the world's total proven petroleum reserves as well.