Tehran (IP) - Iran's Petroleum minister announced increased oil and gas exports to Pakistan.

Iran Press/Iran news: On Friday, Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said that the Ministry had recently negotiated with Pakistan to increase its exports to Pakistan in the next few months.

The Iranian oil minister added: "We will hold talks with Turkmenistan, Iraq and some other neighboring countries to increase gas exports and trade."

Javad Owji said plans are underway to bring the country’s refining capacity to 3.5 million barrels per day from 2.2 mbd within the next 4 to 5 years.

Speaking to reporters following a visit to Tehran Refinery on Friday, Owji said: "God willing, according to the defined schedule for existing refineries and new refineries, in the next four to five years, the capacity of the country's refineries will increase one and a half times."

"The current refining capacity, including crude oil and gas condensate, is 2.2 million barrels per day, which is planned to exceed 3.5 million barrels per day," the Iranian Minister of Petroleum said.

He said: "We visited one of the oldest oil refineries in the country, which accounts for roughly 13.5% of the country’s refining capacity.”

The Minister of Petroleum stated that his ministry has two agendas regarding refineries; the first is to improve the quantity and quality of existing refineries, and the second is to build refining capacity by building new refineries or petro-refineries.

"Fortunately, investors have been identified for creating and developing refining capacity, and agreements have been reached with the Ministry of Petroleum,” he said.

He also touched upon gas diplomacy and said: "One of the issues we are pursuing is the issue of gas diplomacy with neighboring countries, including Turkmenistan. We will also have this issue on the agenda to increase the current 2% share of Iran's gas trade. We will also hold talks with Turkmenistan, Iraq and other neighboring countries to increase gas exports and trade.”

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