MNA � A senior Iranian oil official said that the industry is developing in the country despite the US� economic sanctions.

Speaking in a televised interview on Saturday, Reza Dehghan, the deputy director for development and engineering affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said that the fate of all the country�s joint oil and gas fields would be completely determined within the next two years, adding that development of several fields was currently underway in the country.

He said NIOC has prepared a $6.2-billion project package for maintaining and enhancing production in the oil industry, adding that 10 contracts regarding the projects had so far been signed and 8 others were to be signed within the next few weeks.

The fate of the remaining contracts will be determined by the end of the current calendar year, which began on March 21, he said.

Dehghan further said that sanctions were nothing new in the oil industry of Iran, adding that developing the oil industry in the country never stops.

He said the development of Forouzan Oilfield, which is shared with Saudi Arabia is underway by tapping domestic capabilities.

�Capabilities of domestic firms have left us no dead ends in developing the fields,� he said.