Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Some 90 percent of companies which had been banned from the Iranian oil industry will be possibly resume activity in the country, said Emad Hosseini, the Iranian deputy oil minister in engineering affairs.
He said that 90 percent of a total of 583 companies, which had been banned from the Iranian oil industry due to different reasons, could return and sign new contracts, Iran's Fars news agency reported May 8.
The situation of about 100 other companies should be further studied, he noted.
He went on to say that the oil minister has held several meetings to discuss activities of the oil industry after the removal of sanctions.
The 20th edition of International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, known as Iran Oil Show, opened on May 6.
More than 1200 Iranian companies and 600 foreign companies from 29 countries are participating in the four-day event.
The prospects for the removal of sanctions in light of an emerging final agreement between Iran and P5+1 over the country's nuclear energy program have already made Iran prepare for a post-sanctions era. To the same effect, it is modifying its oil contracts to make them more attractive to investors.
Mehdi Hosseini, the head of Iran's Oil Contracts Revision Committee, said Iran plans to unveil new oil and gas investment opportunities in a London conference in September.
In August 2014, Hosseini said Iran's new contract, known as the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), would be a longer duration that the previous "buyback" contract.
Current Iranian law requires foreign companies to partner with local firms. However, authorities have already circulated new draft contracts to international oil firms, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to Reuters, offering a favorable rate of return for foreign investors.
Edited by CN
