Iran and South Africa have reached preliminary agreement to cooperate jointly in the construction of gas to liquid (GTL) conversion plant in Iran, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday.

During the meeting on Sunday, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei and the visiting South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson agreed on launching feasibility studies for building a gas to liquids unit with a capacity of 50,000 barrels.

Gas to Liquids is a refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel.

On Saturday, Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Iran was ready to purchase shares of the refineries in South Africa.

Namdar made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting with Joemat-Pettersson.

The purchase plan was aimed at guaranteeing long-term oil exports to the country, Zanganeh said.

Iran's state oil companies should not be involved in the deals, he said, adding that private sector, with the help of Iran's National Development Fund, could participate in the purchase of the refinery shares.

 Source: Xinhua