Iran opens up oil and gas contracts

Iran

TEHRAN, October 17, 2016 – Iran is set to invite foreign oil and gas companies to bid for contracts in the country for the first time in years, its petroleum ministry announced on Sunday.

The website of the ministry said that “eligible” exploration and production companies should file their applications by November 19 and results would be announced December 7.

It was not immediately clear how many contracts would be available or which foreign companies are considered eligible, though on July 18 the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Ali Kardor, told Reuters that besides US companies, only around 37 international companies met Iran’s standards.

The tender comes after a deal with the P5+1 countries last year lifted most of the UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which in exchange undertook steps to assure the international community that its nuclear programme is not aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Iran is hoping to significantly boost its oil and gas production over the next few years. Reuters quoted its oil and gas minister as saying on Monday that already next year, the Islamic Republic hopes to reach the same levels of natural gas production as Qatar and sees the South Pars gasfield, which the two countries share, as a top priority.

Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh added that Iran hopes to boost crude production from 3.8 million bopd today to 4.28 million bopd in 2020, and condensate output from 688,000 bpd today to 1 million bpd in 2018.

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