TEHRAN – Iran will establish an international energy bourse company, the Mehr News Agency reported here on Sunday. The Islamic Republic plans to open its own oil exchange, the Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB), the company’s charter will be registered in the Free Trade Zone of Iran's Kish Island on the Persian Gulf in the current week, the report commented. The IOB has been on Iran's domestic agenda since early 2004, however, different dates have been announced for its opening, all of which have been quietly disavowed as the deadline neared.

The bourse is considered an important step with the country's plan to play a more prominent role in the energy sector in the Persian Gulf region.

The project would raise the global stakes of Iran’s energy sector, reshape the dynamics of its oil and gas business and expand the country’s role in the management of the prices of oil and oil products.

Earlier establishment of the IOB could turn Iran into a strategic hub in the region because, it would be the first in the Middle East. However, surrounded by bureaucratic hurdles and red tapes, the bourse did not achieve its objectives before the establishment of the Qatar Energy Bourse. RA/MA END MNA