January 15, 2012 [Bloomberg] - Iran plans to build its first privately financed oil-export terminal at a port on the nation‘s western coast, the state-run Mehr news agency reported, citing the managing director of National Iranian Oil Terminals Co.
The facility, to begin operation by the end of 2015, will have a storage capacity for crude oil of more than 8 million barrels, Pirouz Mousavi said, according to Mehr. The project will cost about 1,300 trillion rials ($115 million) and be built at the Persian Gulf port of Genaveh in Bushehr province, the agency reported today.
International sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program have discouraged foreign investment in the country‘s energy industries. The report did not identify the builder or the source of financing for the export terminal. Iran is the second-largest oil producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, pumping 3.575 million barrels a day in December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.