An Iranian state oil and gas company plans a €3 billion bond issue soon to help finance development of a major natural gas field in South Pars in the Gulf, the Oil Ministry's website Shana reported.
Ali Vakili, head of the Pars Oil and Gas company, said the company would also issue rial-denominated bonds for the equivalent of around $3bn, according to Shana. Iran has earlier announced plans for large bond issues.
Pars Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of the state National Iranian Oil Company, said last month that it had started offering bonds in a planned €1bn offering. Vakili said 25 per cent of that issue had been sold so far, and the rest would be issued next week.
Analysts say Iran needs foreign capital to help modernise and expand its all-important energy sector.
In December, Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said Iran planned to issue bonds worth €2.5bn, a figure that could increase to €5 billion during the 2010-11 financial year.
Iran has the second-biggest gas reserves in the world after Russia, but sanctions and other factors have slowed its development as an exporter.
South Pars contains about half of the country's estimated 28 trillion cubic metres of gas reserves.
Iran has increasingly shifted to Asian countries to develop its oil and gas fields, where firms are less susceptible to Western pressure to stay away from the Iranian market and are eager for energy supplies to feed future growth.