The government of Iran has approved a new model contract for oil and natural gas projects as it prepares to increase output with the help of foreign investors once international sanctions are lifted, according to reports
The council of ministers endorsed the model contract in a meeting chaired by President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, state-run Mehr news agency reported.
Successful implementation of a July deal to curb its nuclear programme would allow the country to ramp up oil exports, which fell to an average 1.4mn bpd last year from 2.6mn in 2011, US Energy Information Administration data show.
Iran aims to resume production of about one million bpd within months of sanctions ending. Beyond that, it plans to attract foreign oil company investment to help raise output to 5.7mn bpd, Mehdi Hosseini, chairman of the oil contracts restructuring committee, said in August.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh revealed that the country will unveil the contracts at a conference in Tehran in October this year. Potential investors will get more details on the 40-plus fields to be offered for partnerships at a further conference in London in February 2016, National Iranian Oil Company finance director Ali Kardor said.
Iran’s oil terminals are ready to handle the 500mn barrels of daily shipments that the country plans to add as soon as sanctions are lifted, Pirouz Mousavi, managing director of Iran Oil Terminals, noted.
In August 2015, Iran pumped 2.9mn bpd in August 2015, putting it in fourth place in the OPEC list, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
