Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28
By Dalga Khatinoglu – Trend:
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani set up a committee tasked with ratifying Iran’s oil deals on November 27.
Headed by Mohammad Forouzandeh, former chief of staff of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the staff including several top officials of former hardliner president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would monitor oil deals.
The staff members are Davoud Daneshjafari, economy minister of Ahmadinejad, Ghoalhossein Nouzari, oil minister of Ahmadinejad and several figures close the current government including Houshang Naderian, Mohammad Mir-Mohammadi and Gholamreza Shafei.
The committee will monitor the compliance of new oil deals proposed by the Oil Ministry with the regulations instated by the country’s cabinet.
The new committee staff implies that Rouhani wants to include the representatives of all political wings in the new oil and gas deals with foreigners, to reduce the opposition’s ideas for the new designed oil contracts, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).
Under severe disapproval by mostly government critics, the IPC model has been modified several times to meet their concerns about possible flaws.
The first tender for upstream projects had been projected for November, but the tender announcement seems to have been postponed again.
Iran unveiled the generalities of IPC in November 2015, offering 49 oil and gas projects to foreigners. In the IPC model, Iran has kept its sovereignty over its hydrocarbon reserves, but payment of all direct and indirect expenses, as well as finance and operation costs will be dependent on allocating a portion (maximum 50 percent) of products or proceeds based on current day sale prices.
IPC will replace the old buy-back contracts. It is being advertised as a risk service contract which includes integrated exploration, development and production.
Finally, Iran signed the first heads of agreement (HOA) based on IPC with Tadbiri Energy Group, affiliated with the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO) organization, for increasing the recovery rate of three fields on Oct. 4.
The value of the deal would be $2.2 billion after EIKO chooses a foreign partner and signs an agreement with the Oil Ministry.
IRGC and EIKO were the major critics of IPC before.
Iran needs at least $100 billion investment in upstream oil and gas projects by 2021, of which 80 percent is projected to be attracted from foreign companies.
The offered 21 gas and 29 oil fields based on IPC:
|
Gas in place Trillion cubic feet |
Current output Mcf/d |
Total estimated output Mcf/d |
Estimated condensate output b/d |
|
226.42 |
1,023 |
14,416 |
110,610 |
|
Oil in place billion stock tank barrels |
Current output b/d |
Total estimated output b/d |
Associated gas output mcf/d |
|
214 |
217,000 |
To be proposed by contractor |
7,000 |