By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 30
Iran has signed seven non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with international oil companies, Ali Kardor, Iran’s deputy oil minister, said.
Under the agreements the companies will undertake studies in Iran’s oil fields and will submit the study results to Iran, Kardor said, IRNA news agency reported Aug. 30.
A non-disclosure agreement, also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to or by third parties.
Kardor, who heads the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said that there will be no commitment for Iran to assign the field’s development to the company which had carried out the preliminary surveys on the field.
The NIOC enjoys the consultation service of the companies for fields’ study through signing the confidentiality agreement, he added.
He further said that the NIOC has signed confidentiality agreements with French Total, Russian Lukoil and Zarubezhneft, Indonesian Pertamina, Austrian OMV and German Wintershall companies.
Iran plans to issue the first tender for oil and gas projects, based on its new contract model, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), in the next Iranian month, Mehr (September 22 to October 22).
The tender of development of South Azadegan oil field would probably be the first IPC-based project which would be introduced to foreigners.
The Islamic Republic has planned $185 billion worth of oil and gas projects by 2021 and hopes to attract foreign investments by using IPCs.
Despite the old contracts, IPC allows foreign companies to sign long-term contracts with Iran (20-25 years) and receive a percentage of produced oil as long as the field is active. It would encourage the foreign company to increase the field's recovery rate to receive more oil in the long term.