Iran will issue an equivalent of some 4 billion dollars' worth of bonds domestically to develop its giant South Pars Gas field, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted an oil industry official as saying on Sunday.
The bonds will be issued in domestic currency, amounting to 5,000 billion Tomans.
"The first phase of 5,000 billion Tomans South Pars bonds will be issued (later this week) through the Iranian agent banks," Fars quoted the managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), Mousa Souri, as saying.
International sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to curb its nuclear programme have forced western oil companies to pull out of the giant South Pars field that the Islamic Republic shares with Qatar and pushed Tehran to seek other sources of finance.
State-owned Asian firms are less susceptible to western pressure to stay away from the Iranian market and are eager for energy supplies from the Islamic Republic to feed future growth. But they often lack the modern technology and capital which Iran needs.
Iran's banks are under pressure because Western banks and export credit agencies, which have been a source of credit lines particularly in trade, have been exiting Iran due to sanctions.
Major credit ratings agencies Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's do not rate Iran because the sanctions bar foreign investors from holding Iranian bonds.
Souri also said the country is planning to issue 2.7 billion euros ($3.9 billion) of bonds internationally for the financing of the same gas fields. He did not specify the time.
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