Iran may stop exporting energy within 20 yrs

Istanbul, Nov 24: Iran will cease to be an energy exporter within two decades if it fails to resolve its energy problems, a senior Iranian official said today.

''It is a reality that Iran's energy consumption is increasing.

The first remedy is to use alternative fossil resource exploitation and to increase the efficiency of energy consumption,'' said Alireza Attar, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs.

''If we don't find a solution to these issues within 15 to 20 years, we cannot be an energy exporter anymore. Therefore we should be able to exploit our fossil energy resources to create financial resources,'' he said.

Attar was addressing a panel at the two-day World Economic Forum in Istanbul. Tehran cites its growing electricity needs as a reason for its controversial nuclear programme.

The United States and its European allies suspect the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme is a cover for building a bomb and have drafted UN sanctions against Iran.

Attar reaffirmed Tehran's line that the nuclear programme is in full compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which he noted Iran is a founder member.

''We are planning to build 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy capacity. That means we should build 20 nuclear houses (power plants),'' he said.

Reuters