Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.6
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
A top Iranian oil official has said the country will likely ink five major upstream oil contracts in two years with foreigners.
The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Roknoddin Javadi, said Tehran would probably sign five major oil deals by the end of President Hassan Rouhani's term in mid 2017.
He also elaborated on the new model of oil contracts, the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), comparing them to buy-back contracts. The IPC is also a kind of service purchase contract.
The long-term IPC contract offers exploration of, development of, and production at oil and gas fields in an integrated package. However, the ownership of the fields will not be transferred to the foreign side, according to the report.
The new contracts also aimed at transferring new technology to Iran. Iranian experts should be present at the project sites alongside the foreign companies' representatives to familiarize themselves with the modern technologies used in the field, based on the IPC.
Explaining the differences between buy-back contracts and the IPC, Javadi said the new model of contracts obliges contractors to obtain their benefits over a term of 15-20 years, as the revenue will rely on the productivity of the projects.
The IPC will be a modification of the traditional buy-back risk service contracts and has been specifically designed to increase the attractiveness of Iranian oil projects for foreign investors.