TEHRAN (PIN) – National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) Managing Director Mohammadreza Ne’matzadeh here Monday said political deal with his country’s energy case was against the security of global energy sector.

He made the statement on the second day of the 12th IIES International Oil and Gas Conference dubbed “Developments in Geopolitics of Energy and the Role of Natural Gas”.
Ne’matzadeh, also the deputy oil minister, said threats posed by some powers to boycott international companies in case of investing in Iran’s oil and gas industries and transferring technologies were against the security of international energy industry.
“Such threats and political confrontations will be to the disadvantage of all parties particularly consumers,” he warned.
The official added all countries were expected to cooperate sincerely in an attempt to beef up energy security.
The NIORDC chief said the growing need of industrialized and developing countries in energy, reasonable and competitive price of gas in comparison with those of other alternatives of energies, and its less polluting feature when compared to other fossil fuels gave the energy carrier the “Fuel of the 21st Century” title.
The conference kicked off here Sunday, highlighting the crucial role of Iran in the future world energy market.
Managers and experts from 16 states, including Austria, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan, Russia, France, and Belgium have participated in the two-day gathering, out of whom 13 deliver speech, said an Institute for International Energy Studies (IIES) official.
Mohsen Rowhani, the international affairs head of IIES, added predictions showed that share of natural gas in the countries’ energy basket would soar until 2025.
“Gas reserves, different transportation of gas in comparison with oil, privatization, shifting consumer markets from Europe and the United States to Asia particularly China, and changes in national companies’ roles, are among factors behind changes in energy geopolitics,” he said.
The first “call for paper” was announced on the website of the institute last March, said Rowhani, adding 51 articles were sent to the secretariat, out of which one-third were accepted.
He said 1,000 to 1,200 participated in the previous editions of the conference and over 900 registered for the underway gathering, of whom 80 were from foreign countries.
On the sidelines of the conference, top officials elaborated on different issues ranging from Sinopec’s involvement in the Yadavaran oilfield development plan to foreign investment in Iran’s LNG project.