Fifty foreign oil and gas companies have so far submitted documents to the National Iranian Oil Company in the prequalification round for dozens of oil and gas tenders, Ali Kardor, the NIOC managing director said on Monday.
NIOC had initially set a deadline of Nov. 25 for the submission of documents, but later extended it for two weeks, Kardor said, ISNA reported.
The official noted that foreign companies will be subsequently vetted and a final list of eligible bidders will be made available within a month. According to Kardor, the first IPC tender could be announced in January.
He added that US firms are absent in the race for Iran’s upstream projects which will be developed under a new contractual framework, officially known as Iran Petroleum Contract, ISNA reported.
IPC is an upgrade to the unappealing buyback model that was used as the primary framework to develop most oil and gas projects in Iran two decades. Details of what IPC entails have not been made public so far.
The government of President Hassan Rouhani designed the IPC to attract major international companies to develop the key energy sector hurt by years of financial and trade restrictions.
The Oil Ministry has approved 11 domestic companies and conglomerates for collaboration with oil and gas majors.
According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran’s oil industry needs $200 billion in investments in five years, including $130 billion in the upstream sector, $50 billion for the petrochemical industry and $15 billion in downstream refinery projects.
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