Qeshm, Hormuzgan prov, April 6, IRNA � Managing Director of Qeshm Free Trade Zone Hamidreza Momeni said his organization is planning to produce 170,000 barrels of heavy oil per day.

According to the official, the amount will be added to the extraction of 125,000 barrels of oil through four oil projects underway on the island.

He said that the Qeshm FTZ is assigned to produce minimum 35 and maximum 60 million cubic liters of gas on a daily basis during the new Iranian year (started March 21).

It has also a clear agenda for extracting oil and producing petrochemical items, Momeni added.

He said that the Qeshm FTZ is also considering production of eight million tons of downstream petrochemical items.

This is while the project to reserve 100 million barrels of oil is almost half finished, Momeni noted.

He said the organization has also plans to produce 84,000 tons of cage-cultured fish.

Iran and Norway have already signed an agreement to produce 5,000 tons of cage-cultured fish with the participation of the Iranian private sector as well as a Norwegian company.

Iranian officials said that the MoU is worth 500 billion rials (about $16,515m).

The Qeshm FTZ is also to provide necessary grounds for establishing financial markets with a number of Japanese and Arab countries.

According to the managing director, the organization is also to set up its own airliner with the possible investment of Canada�s Bombardier Company.

A total of 1,000 megawatts of electricity will be introduced by the FTZ of which 70 megawatts is already on stream, the official added.

Projects in the field of oil, gas, tourism and other major projects in the fields of steel, energy, water and electricity which have been planned for Qeshm would play a significant role in the economic progress of the region, he added.

Seifollahi also said that investment in different sectors in the zone is economical regarding the government�s strategy and supportive plan of Qeshm Free Zone for businessmen.

Qeshm is the biggest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf region near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

It houses 117,000 inhabitants in an area of 1,500 square kilometers.

The island is a rectangular form with 135km length and 14km of average width.

The island is bigger than 22 countries of the world put together.

Qeshm Island has excellent tourism and recreation capacities with the first ever international Geopark of the Middle East designed and implemented across it.

It is also destination to millions of domestic and international tourists who travel here to enjoy its unique natural beauties.

Oil installations on the island, too, will become a major oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

They are being built to export and import various types of crude oil, gas condensate and various laboratory products to pave the way for establishment of a big, modern oil center in the Persian Gulf, which would become a major oil products bourse.

The plan for building oil installations on Qeshm island includes installing tanks for storing refined products including gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and kerosene, establishing docks and marine loading facilities to import gasoline and diesel as well as bunkering installations in Persian Gulf.

By IRNA