TEHRAN (NIOC) Iran will launch new contracts to develop oil and natural gas fields in mid-February in the countries first such tender since the removal of international sanctions a year ago.
In January 2017, Iran’s Oil Ministry published a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for oil and gas projects following the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear accord that went into effect last year.
Since then, Iran has received bids from Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, Italy’s ENI, France’s Total, Russia’s Gazprom and Lukoil, and Schlumberger of the Netherlands. Asian giants including China’s CNPC and Sinopec International, the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation and Japan Petroleum Exploration also sent bids.
Iran has increased production to 3.9 MMBD from 2.6 MMBD in 2013. The country has already signed a deals with international companies. In November, French oil and gas giant Total signed a preliminary agreement for a USD 4.8B (EUR 4.3B) project to develop an offshore gas field at South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar.
In December, Tehran signed a MOU with Russia’s Gazprom on the development of two major oilfields, and signed three preliminary deals with Shell to examine developing major oil and gas fields.