COUNTRY OVERVIEW
Population (7/03E): 68.3 million
Location/Size: Middle East - between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea/636,296 square miles
Major Cities: Tehran (capital), Meshed, Isfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz, Ahwaz, Kermanshah, Qom, Ardebil, Qazvin
Languages: Persian and Persian dialects (58%), Turkic and Turkic dialects (26%), Kurdish (9%), Luri (2%), Baluch (1%), Arabic (1%), Turkish (1%)
Ethnic Groups: Persian (51%), Azerbaijani (24%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurd (7%), Arab (3%), Lur (2%), Baluch (2%), Turkmen (2%), other (1%)
Religion: Shi'a Muslim (89%), Sunni Muslim (10%), Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i (1%)

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Currency: Rial (R)
Exchange Rates (11/14/03): R7,900 per $US
Gross Domestic Product (GDP, at market exchange rates) (2003E): $126.1 billion
Gross Domestic Product (GDP, at purchasing power parity exchange rates) (2003E): $551.4 billion
Real GDP Growth Rate (2002E): 5.9% (2003E): 4.5% (2004F): 4.4%
Inflation Rate (2003E): 10%-15%
Unemployment Rate (2003E): 16%-21%
Current Account Balance (2002E): $3.8 billion (2003E): $2.8 billion (2004F): $0.2 billion
Major Trading Partners (2000): Japan, Italy, Germany, China, France, United Arab Emirates
Merchandise Exports (2003E): $29.1 billion
Merchandise Imports (2003E): $25.8 billion
Merchandise Trade Surplus (2003E): $3.2 billion
Major Export Products: Oil and oil products (90%), carpets, pistachios
Major Import Products: Industrial supplies (37%), machinery (30%), consumer goods (18%)
Oil Export Revenues (2002E): $18.0 billion (2003F): $23.1 billion
Oil Export Revenues/Total Export Revenues (2003E): around 90%
External Debt (2003E): $11.5 billion

ENERGY OVERVIEW
Proven Oil Reserves (1/1/03E): 89.7 billion barrels
OPEC Crude Oil Production Quota (as of 11/1/03): 3.597 MMBD
Crude Oil Production Capacity (10/03E): 3.75 MMBD
Oil Production (2002E): 3.5 MMBD (of which, 3.4 MMBD was crude oil) (2003F): 3.9 MMBD (of which 3.7 MMBD was crude oil)
Oil Consumption (2002E): 1.3 MMBD (2003F): 1.3 MMBD
Net Oil Exports (2002E): 2.2 MMBD (2003F): 2.6 MMBD
Crude Oil Refining Capacity (1/1/03E): 1.47 MMBD
Major Crude Oil Customers: OECD Europe, Japan, China, South Korea
Natural Gas Reserves (1/1/03E): 812 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)
Natural Gas Production (2001E): 2.17 Tcf
Natural Gas Consumption (2001E): 2.32 Tcf
Recoverable Coal Reserves (2000E): 1,885 million short tons (Mmst)
Coal Production (2001E): 1.5 Mmst
Coal Consumption (2001E): 2.3 Mmst
Net Coal Imports (2001E): 0.8 Mmst
Electric Generation Capacity (2001E): 30.6 gigawatts (around 93% thermal)
Electricity Consumption (2001E): 115.9 billion kilowatthours

ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW
Total Energy Consumption (2001E): 5.18 quadrillion Btu* (1.3% of world total energy consumption)
Energy-Related Carbon Emissions (2001E): 90.1 million metric tons of carbon (1.4% of world total carbon emissions)
Per Capita Energy Consumption (2001E): 80.3 million Btu (vs U.S. value of 341.8 million Btu)
Per Capita Carbon Emissions (2001E): 1.4 metric tons of carbon (vs U.S. value of 5.5 metric tons of carbon)
Energy Intensity (2001E -- PPP): 14,595 Btu/ $1995 (vs U.S. value of 10,736 Btu/ $1995)**
Carbon Intensity (2001E -- PPP): 0.25 metric tons of carbon/thousand $1995 (vs U.S. value of 0.17 metric tons/thousand $1995)**
Fuel Share of Energy Consumption (2001E): Oil (51%), Natural Gas (47%), Coal (1%), Hydroelectric (1%)
Fuel Share of Carbon Emissions (2001E): Oil (53%), Natural Gas (45%), Coal (1%)
Status in Climate Change Negotiations: Non-Annex I country under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ratified July 18th, 1996). Not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.
Major Environmental Issues: Air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; inadequate supplies of potable water.
Major International Environmental Agreements: A party to Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection and Wetlands. Has signed, but not ratified, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea and Marine Life Conservation.

* The total energy consumption statistic includes petroleum, dry natural gas, coal, net hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar, wind, wood and waste electric power. The renewable energy consumption statistic is based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data and includes hydropower, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, solid biomass and animal products, biomass gas and liquids, industrial and municipal wastes. Sectoral shares of energy consumption and carbon emissions are also based on IEA data.

**GDP based on OECD, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) values

OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES
Organizations: The Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) has overall responsibility for the country's energy sector. The MoP has four subsidiaries which function autonomously for the most part, but ultimately report to the Ministry: 1) National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) - oil and gas exploration and production, refining and oil transportation; 2) National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) - manages gathering, treatment, processing, transmission, distribution, and exports of gas and gas liquids; 3) National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NPC) - handles petrochemical production, distribution, and exports; and 4) National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) handles oil refining and transportation, with some overlap to NIOC. The National Iranian Offshore Oil Co. (IOOC) is in charge of offshore oil fields in the Persian Gulf. The National Iranian South Oil Fields Co. (NIOC South) is in charge of onshore oilfields in southern Iran. Pars Oi & Gas Co. (POGC) is in charge of the offshore North and South Pars gas fields. Khazar Exploration & Production Co. is in charge of Iran's Caspian Sea sector. Also, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) controls the second largest fleet of tankers in OPEC.
Foreign Oil Company Involvement: BG, BHP, Bow Valley, BP, Edison, ENI, Gazprom, OMV, Petronas, Royal Dutch/Shell, Sheer Energy, Statoil, Total
Major Oil Fields: Agha Jari, Ahwaz (Bangestan), Azadegan, Bibi Hakimeh, Darkhovin, Doroud, Gachsaran, Mansouri (Bangestan), Marun, Masjid-e Soleiman, Parsi, Rag-e-Safid, Soroush/Nowruz
Major Refineries (capacity, bbl/d) (1/1/03E): Abadan (400,000), Isfahan (265,000), Bandar Abbas (232,000); Tehran (225,000), Arak (150,000), Tabriz (112,000), Shiraz (40,000), Kermanshah (30,000), Lavan Island (20,000)
Major Oil Terminals: Ganaveh, Kharg Island, Lavan Island, Sirri Island, Cyrus, Ras Bahregan, Larak Island
Gas Pipeline System: The 780-mile, 40/42-inch IGAT-1 trunkline transports associated gas from Khuzestan area oilfields to consumption centers in the north; the 56-inch, $1.5 billion, 880-mile IGAT-2 line transports non-associated gas from the Kangan and Nar fields on the Persian Gulf coast near Bandar Taheri; the $500 million, 56-inch, 300-mile IGAT-3 pipeline, which would run from South Pars to Tehran, is under construction. Evaluation also has begun on a possible IGAT-4 line from South Pars to industrial northern Iran and IGAT-5 from South Pars to the onshore Agha Jari oilfield..