A Norwegian company has expressed readiness to participate in Iran’s oil and gas projects, said Hossein Noghrekar Shirazi, secretary general of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA).
Following a meeting with the heads of the Norwegian company DNO exploration and mining department, Noghrekar said there is a lot of potential for involvement of international companies in the Iranian oil, gas and petrochemical sectors.
DNO’s head of exploration, Tore Lilloe-Olsen, was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying the company is ready to cooperate with the oil ministry, while the ICCIMA can effectively help DNO find the active companies in the oil and gas sector. “This can boost cooperation between Iran and Norway,” he added.
Many Norwegian companies have participated in Iranian oil and gas project so far, and significant onshore and offshore projects have been operated by them.
Norwegian ambassador to Tehran, Jens-Petter Kjemprud, last December said that economic cooperation, trade, business relations and investment has “dried” up because of the sanctions, adding that: “Before the latest sanctions were imposed, there was a quite comprehensive cooperation in the oil sector.”
“On the global energy scene, Iran with its abundant reserves in oil and gas, is among the most important players even today under sanctions. As today Norway is one of the biggest gas suppliers to the European market, future coordination and cooperation between the two countries would be beneficial.”
“In addition to the sanctions, I think the revision of the framework [of contracts] and agreements which are now revised could also give further impetus for international oil companies to come back,” Kjemprud said.
Statoil and Norsk Hydro ASA are among the most acclaimed Norwegian companies which had previously participated in Iran’s oil and gas sector.
