SHANA � Iranian Ministry of Petroleum has set up a new initiative to support domestic manufacturers by guaranteeing purchase of their quality items needed in the petroleum industry.

Addressing the first innovation event of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, �Petroleum Takeoff�, on Monday morning, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said, "Back in 1997, no Iranian university enrolled students in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, but we are doing well in this field currently.�

He added the first phase of nine contracts in the upstream sector, five exploration contracts, and 12 contracts for construction of downstream institutes with universities have been carried out and their second phase is about to commence.

Zangeneh said that the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum intended that universities become more involved in solving petroleum industry problems and that the industry support them in return.