SHANA -- An official with the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum said the country was not only self-sufficient in petrol production, but had excess production capacity, which could be earmarked for exports.

Addressing the 6th Drilling Congress and Exhibition in Tehran on Saturday, Houshang Falahatian, the deputy petroleum minister for planning, said shifting policies from an economy dependent on petrodollars to an oil-based economy was one of the approaches taken by Iran in macro-decision making of the oil industry.

He said development of onshore fields including Azar as well as offshore fields like South Pars gas field were top on the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum�s agenda.

Falahatian further touched on the issue of domestic manufacturing of widely-used items in the oil industry, adding 51 contracts with a total value of �597 million and Rls. 4,330 billion had been signed with the domestic private sector developers in this regard.

This year's event includes 30 specialist panels, 5 workshops and over 100 presentations and lectures on the dimensions and requirements of projects on enhancement and maintenance of production from the technical, financial, legal, contractual, insurance and risk management viewpoints.

Moreover, reviewing business strategies in exploration and production companies, general contractors, drilling companies, and technical services is top on the agenda of the congress.