Farhad Shahroki referred to the topic of interaction between the Ministry of Oil and the Islamic Consultative Assembly, especially the Energy Commission, and stated: The interaction of the Ministry of Oil in the fourteenth government with the Islamic Consultative Assembly and especially the specialized Energy Commission has generally been pursued in a professional, expert space based on direct dialogue.
He added: The presence of the minister and senior managers of the Ministry of Oil in the meetings of the Energy Commission, the provision of specialized reports, responding to demands, and jointly examining issues related to the oil, gas, refining, and distribution industries has created a suitable environment for bringing the legislative and oversight processes closer to the realities of the energy industry.
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The Necessity of Investment in the Energy Sector
The Vice Chairman of the Energy Commission of the Parliament emphasized: Constructive interaction between the government and the parliament never means that the parliament loses its independence and oversight responsibility. Optimal interaction makes sense when the government sees the parliament not as a supervisor but as one of the pillars of governance and policymaking in the country, and the parliament, while precisely performing its legislative and oversight duties, helps the government remove legal obstacles, provide legal tools, and facilitate the implementation of national policies.
Shahroki continued: Energy is not just an economic sector; it is directly linked to national security, industrial production, household welfare, employment, foreign trade, public budget, and the economic resilience of the country. Therefore, any sustained disruption in the balance of energy production and consumption can transfer its effects to other sectors of the economy and the lives of people.
Challenges Facing the Oil Industry
He said: The necessity for extensive investment in upstream oil and gas, the development of joint fields, managing the pressure drop in gas reservoirs, increasing recovery rates, ensuring sustainable fuel supply, completing refining capacities, collecting flare gases, reducing energy intensity, enhancing productivity, and reforming consumption patterns are issues that cannot be solved with temporary decisions or one-dimensional approaches and require coherent, long-term, and cross-sector governance.
Shahroki added: One of the most important outcomes of the professional interaction between the government and the parliament should be to reduce the gap between law, decision, and execution. The parliament has the duty to enact precise, sustainable, and enforceable laws, eliminate legal barriers to investment, and oversee the proper implementation of laws.
In return, the government and the Ministry of Oil must provide clear, scheduled, and quantitatively based executive programs and be accountable for the extent of legal obligations fulfilled. Shahroki emphasized: The seventh development plan is a key document in this regard.
The energy provisions of this law outline a clear path for increasing oil and gas production, managing consumption, reducing energy intensity, developing investment, and enhancing productivity. From this perspective, the full implementation of the seventh plan should become one of the most important axes of cooperation between the Ministry of Oil and the Energy Commission.
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