Minister of Petroleum Visits NIOC Exhibition

Iranian minister of petroleum, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh visited an exhibition displaying NIOC’s central building documents and pictures during its first day of opening on Saturday, February the 11.

Accompanied by the director of petroleum museums, Dr. Akbar Nematollahi, the minister was shown pictures and documents depicting the different phases of the central building of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) construction.

Construction of the 16-story high-rise building of NIOC was started in 1958 and completed three years later. At that time, it was the tallest building in Tehran. Other high-rise buildings of Tehran such as Plasco and Hotel Hilton were built later in 1962 and 1963 respectively.

The building, now serving as the Petroleum Ministry headquarters, is the host of an exhibition called “NIOC in Pictures and Documents, The First Skyscraper of Iran”.   

Head of Oil Industry Documents and Achieve Center, Heshmatollah Monem says the exhibition is underway on the threshold of the sixtieth anniversary of construction the NIOC central building.

He also added the collapse of the Plasco Building during a huge fire last month, is a warning to remind us the importance of paying attention to the historical, old buildings in Tehran, the buildings that are indispensable part of the capital identity.

The exhibition has been held since February the 11 and will run until February the 21 and is open to public from 08 to 16.

NIOC main office was built by the famous designer and architecture Abdolaziz Farmanfarmanian. He was also in charge of constructing other important buildings in the capital including Azadi Sports Complex, Mehrabad Airport, Tehran University’s mosque and etc.

Holding the exhibition, it is believed, is a good opportunity for telling the history of these historical buildings and is an encouragement for the oil veterans to narrate their untold stories about the history of oil in the country.