The culmination of the war was followed by the oil industry reconstruction and renovation efforts . Refining , production and export capacities surpassed the levels of the pre-war era . Despite restrictions emanating from sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S and its satellites , the Ministry of Petroleum pursued oil industry development plans . Oil industry development plans were based on 5 major approaches :1-Expansion of the petrochemical industry , in light of its value-added products in world markets , and requirements of domestic downstream industries ; 2-Giving priority to the expansion of the gas network to industrial centers , power plants, and the residential sector , because of economic and environmental advantages of natural gas , and its substitution as a clean burning fuel , for valuable oil products . 3- Making investments in the upstream sector of the oil industry and executing exploration projects to strengthen Iran’s position as the second oil producer among OPEC member countries , and as the 2nd holder of the worlds’ hugest natural gas reserves . Discovery of the giant fields Azadegan , Tabnak and Homa have been some of the outcomes of these efforts . 4-Playing an active role in OPEC and other international for a to bring stability to world petroleum markets ; 5-To secure financial resources required for development projects through Buy-Back contracts as a pragmatic approach to the implementation of development projects ,while placing emphasis on the utilization of domestic expertise and investment potentials , and the transfer of technology .
Thus the Iranian oil industry was able to make great achievements in different sectors in recent years , and hence experience a fundamental change in industrial growth and development .Negotiation of difficult contracts for the expansion of oil and gas fields , absorption of foreign resources for exploration projects , increasing the production capacity of petrochemical industries to 12 million tons per year , from 500 thousand tons per year in pre-revolution era, raising the country’s crude oil refining capacity to 1.7 million barrels per day from about 700 thousands bpd, carrying out varied programs in “ The Petrochemical Economic Zone ( PETZONE in Bandar Imam ) , as the nation’s major economic pole , and “ The Pars Special Economic and Energy Zone “ ( PARSEE in Assalouyeh port ),also the expansion of the domestic gas consumption network to cover 370 cities or 6.5 million households , moreover effecting the considerable increase in the number of high pressure pipelines as well as ,the unprecedented rise in the level of gas processing and transmission , are some of the achievements of the Ministry of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran , in recent years .In the international area too , the Petroleum Ministry has pursued the objective of strengthening the status of OPEC through the expansion of cooperation with OPEC member states and other oil producer and consumer nations .
In the years after the victory of the Islamic revolution , especially in the very recent years , the petroleum industry of Iran has had a unique performance because of a more favorable international scene and the non-intensification of American economic embargoes .Now in its 23rd year of self-reliance , and autarky , the National petroleum industry of Iran, is making headway , moving on with full strength and confidence utilizing up-to-date technology , state-of-the-art equipment , powerful and innovative management , highly skilled and creative local manpower resources , and a futuristic approach toward planning development projects.