After months of negotiations and buildup, the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry and the French Institute of Petroleum, officially known as IFP, will finalize an agreement next month to expand cooperation.
Hamidreza Katouzian, the head of RIPI, is slated to sign the agreement on the sidelines of the 21st International Iran Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, which will commence on April 5, Shana reported.
The new chapter in relations between Iran and France's top petroleum academia will cover a broad range of issues, including boosting extraction from Iran's hydrocarbon fields via enhanced recovery techniques, new gas sweetening methods, management of water resources, environmental protection, reducing gas flaring and conducting seismic studies on oil and gas fields.
As part of the agreement with RIPI, the research and development wing of the Oil Ministry, the French institute will also establish an academic center in Iran to hold training courses related to the petroleum industry.
IFP is a graduate engineering school located in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Founded in 1954, IFP is part of the IFP Energies Nouvelles, a French public-sector research and training center.
It graduates approximately 600 students per year in 20 graduate programs, employing 40 regular professors and 350 instructors from the industry.
Tehran's landmark nuclear agreement with six world powers in July 2015 incentivized many international oil and gas firms to return to Iran's market after being shut out for years due to western sanctions that limited the country's trade and interactions with the world.
IPF and RIPI reached a preliminary agreement in November to expand ties, with the head of IFP's training branch, Jean-Luc Karnik, describing Iran as "one of the most important oil and gas hubs in the world".
Iran Oil Show 2016 will host around 1,000 domestic and 634 foreign firms from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, China and South Korea, among others.
The four-day exhibit is the first major opportunity for internationals after the January 16 lifting of sanctions against Iran to get acquainted with the Middle East nation's oil and gas sector.
