Iran's president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that he would favor domestic companies in the exploitation of the country's oil, state television reported.

"Iran's companies should enjoy preference when we award oil contracts," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

"Oil is the most important assets of our people and we (the new cabinet) will promote the transparency in the oil industry," he added.

Ahmadinejad's remarks were reported soon after the Interior Ministry confirmed his victory in the runoff of the 9th Iranian presidential elections. He has won 61.69 percent of the votes.

His nationalist stance raised worries across the country that the ultra-conservative president-elect will drag the country back into a closed fundamentalist state.

According to official statistics, Iran has 132 billion barrels of oil and 26,800 billion cubic meters of gas in proven reserves, both at the second in the global list.

Source: Xinhua