The ground should be prepared for Iran's private sector to participate, along with foreign companies, in oil and gas projects, head of the Energy Commission of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said.
Hamidreza Salehi said private companies will welcome foreign presence in Iran's energy sector because "the flow of technology and investment will help them grow", ILNA reported.
He said domestic firms have faced long-lasting challenges in the past decade, including sanctions, pressure at the domestic front and mounting debts, hence the government should give a greater role to private companies in the post-sanctions era.
"Private firms can operate in oil and gas infrastructure projects, choose foreign partners and establish a consortium to carry out projects … [otherwise] only semi-governmental enterprises will be able to seal contracts with foreign companies."
Salehi mentioned the plethora of joint oilfields with neighboring countries and said Iran "deserves" to partner with international oil and gas giants, such as Malaysia's Petronas, Russia's Gazprom, the Netherlands' Shell, Britain's BP and China's CNPC.
"We must have large companies to develop oil and gas fields on our own and even embark on exporting technologies," he said, calling for increasing petrochemical value added for export.
