A series of talks have been held recently with European and Asian companies over signing new oil and gas contracts, a senior official from the oil ministry said Wednesday, denying reports that American companies have also been involved in these talks.
"A special working group has finished the drafting of new buyback contracts at the oil ministry," Mehdi Hosseini announced, according to Mehr news agency. He added that the negotiations are related to exploration, recovery and development of oil and gas fields across the country.
"We predict that billions of dollars will be invested in upstream sector of our oil and gas industry – namely exploration and production - once sanctions are lifted," Hosseini stated. The recent negotiations with foreign companies, he said, are aimed at preserving the attractiveness of Iran's oil and gas contracts.
Hosseini, who is head of the Oil Contracts Revision Committee at the oil ministry, said that consultations have been held with several major international oil companies in drafting the new version of contracts. He, however, refused to mention the names of those companies.
As two main advantages of Iran's oil and gas industry, Hosseini referred to low investment risk and the unique quality of the country's hydrocarbon reserves.
The Rouhani administration plans to introduce a new petroleum contract model with the aim of attracting foreign companies to invest in Iran's energy projects.
A seminar on this topic, which was scheduled to be held in the UK in February, has been postponed for a second time to September.
