Iran Largest Petroleum Museum Coming Online In Masjed Soleyman

Construction of the main building of the Masjed Soleyman Petroleum Museum has progressed by 75 percent, managing director of the Masjed Soleyman Oil And Gas Exploration Company (MSOGEC), Ghobad Naseri said.

In an interview with Servat newspaper, Naseri further said there were various historical and industrial sites in Masjed Soleyman city with enough potential for changing into petroleum museums, of which the company has prioritized Oil Well No.1 and its surroundings, Tombi power plant and Si Berenj Oil Stream for the purpose.  

 MSOGEC’s managing director noted that the company had held a tender in order to pick a contractor for reconstruction of Oil Well No.1 as a museum, which after completion will host domestic and foreign tourists.  

According to him, the company has finalized the process of choosing a contractor that will be in charge of building a park museum on the bank of Tombi river and nearby power plant over a 10-month period with 320 billion rials investment.  

Speaking on the preliminary steps have been taken for changing Si Berenj Oil Stream to a museum, he said: the project is in its early stages and a tender will be held for implementation of the project immediately after providing necessary funds.  

Earlier director of Petroleum Museums Akbar Nematollahi had said that two oil museums were likely to be inaugurated in Masjid Soleyman up to the end of the current calendar year in March.

Noting that the city could become a city-museum, Nematollahi had said: "Masjid Soleyman is an old city where [Iran's] first oil well was spudded to produce oil. Due to this history in oil production, following preliminary studies, it was proposed to become a city-museum, but unfortunately, it would not be possible to reconstruct the entire city."

He said that five spots in Masjid Soleyman have been chosen by experts to house oil museums.

"Among various historical and industrial facilities, buildings and centers in Masjed Soleyman, five museum areas including Si Berenj oil stream, Well No. 1, Tombi power plant, distillation plant, refinery and sulfur production plant have been selected." he said.