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By Trend

Iran is expected to sign six new oil MoUs in the near future, Gholam Reza Manouchehri, an official with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said.

Manouchehri said that under the newly developed model Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) foreign companies can use Iranian partners in the projects, SHANA news agency reported on October 23.

It is predicted that even in large oil fields where foreigners work as operators, some 70 percent of the work will be carried out by Iranian companies, he said.

Manouchehri further said that so far, the NIOC has signed MoUs with 10 foreign companies.

It was earlier announced that Iran will sign several new oil and gas contracts worth $10 billion with foreign and domestic companies until March 2017 for developing upstream oil and gas sectors.

The Islamic Republic has planned $185 billion worth of oil and gas projects by 2021 and hopes to attract foreign investments by using IPCs.

Unlike the old contracts, IPC allows foreign companies to sign long-term contracts with Iran (20-25 years) and receive a percentage of produced oil as long as the field is active. This would encourage the foreign company to increase the field's recovery rate to receive more oil in the long term.

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