Iran, foreign investor close to $2B deal on oil fields

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Iran’s Industrial Development and Renovation Organization has made preliminary agreements with a foreign investor to fund the development of three oil fields, IDRO chief Mansour Moazzami told Trend  on May 9.

"We will soon introduce the foreign investor to the NIOC," Moazzami said, refusing to name the company.

The state owned IDRO signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on May 8 to carry out studies for development of three oil fields.

Under the MoU, IDRO will undertake studies on Susangerd, Cheshmeh-Khosh and West Paydar oil fields for development and increasing oil recovery rate.

Moazzami said the three fields are set to reach a joint output of 150,000 barrels per day after development. He added that close to $2 billion is needed for the projects to be carried out.

Since the lifting of international nuclear sanctions on Iran in early 2016, the NIOC has signed 24 MoUs with domestic and international companies seeking to join oil and gas development projects in the country, including a recent MoU with Philippine National Oil Co. for studies of Iran’s Pazanan and Darkhowin oil fields.

In November 2016, France’s Total became the first oil major to sign a big deal with Tehran since the lifting of sanctions and agreed to help it develop the world’s largest gas field, South Pars.

Iran, which strives to regain its lost positions in the world energy market, introduced 49 oil and gas fields to foreign investors based on newly designed oil contract, called the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) in 2015.

Previously, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that about $20-$30 billion worth of foreign investments are expected to be attracted based on the IPC.

Iran produced 3.77 million barrels per day of crude in April, the latest S&P Global Platts survey of OPEC production shows.