Tehran to reveal new contracts for foreign investors
By Sara Rajabova
Iran plans to introduce new oil contracts worth $40 billion to foreign investors seeking to invest in country’s energy sector.
Moshtaq-Ali Gohari, deputy director for Combined Planning at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on December 8 that Iran’s Oil Ministry plans to introduce new oil contracts to foreign investors at the upcoming international conference in the British capital, London.
“More than 40 major oil industry projects and plans have been prepared in order to be introduced at the London conference, which is scheduled for March, 2015,” Gohari said.
He said the projects, which cover the upstream, exploration and development sectors, are expected to attract more than $40 billion foreign investment.
Gohari’s remarks come as many business delegations from different countries have visited Iran in recent months to examine investment opportunities.
World oil giants have also voiced their readiness to return to Iran following the easing of sanctions against the country in light of the implementation of Tehran’s interim nuclear deal with the six world powers that was clinched in November last year and extended in July of this year.
Iranian officials earlier said Spain’s Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum (BP), France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Lukoil have shown willingness for investment in Iran.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh earlier announced that the country will hold a briefing session for foreign companies in to announce new arrangements regarding Iran's oil and natural gas development contracts. He said the duration of the contracts with foreign companies would be extended to "15-20 years" compared to the typical 10 years at present.
Zanganeh also noted that Iran needs to attract $150-200 billion in investment for its oil and gas sectors within the next 10 years.