The Philippines has evinced interest in building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Iran as well as purchase gas from the Islamic Republic, a report said.

"The Philippines would like to build an LNG plant in Iran with a capacity of 18 million tons per year," Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamani-Nia was quoted as saying in the Iran Daily report, which cited Mehr News Agency.

The plant will be built by a consortium of Philippino National Oil Company (PNOC) and a European firm, he added after a meeting with Pedro Aquino, head of PNOC, in Tehran, Iran.

Talks on the issue will continue at the expert level, he noted.