Agencies…
Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Lukoil PJSC are among the leading international companies in the rash as Iran, the holder of the world’s fourth-largest crude reserves presents $30 billion worth of projects to investors.
Total is one of the companies that have been in the forefront of discussions and Eni SpA is also looking to invest, Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.
“Many companies are interested. Europeans are interested, Asian companies are interested,” Zanganeh told reporters at a conference in Tehran. “Total is interested, Eni is interested”, he added
Iran is pitching 70 oil and natural gas projects valued at $30 billion to foreign investors at a two-day conference in Tehran.
The Persian Gulf country is also preparing for an end of sanctions that have stifled its energy production.
Iran’s oil exports fell to an average 1.4 million barrels a day last year from 2.6 million in 2011 due to the sanctions on the country, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show.
“All banking and economic sanctions will be lifted by the first week of January,” Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Deputy oil Minister for International and Commerce affairs, said at the event.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Conference, Total’s head of Exploration Stephane Michel said the company is eagerly waiting to return to Iran as soon as the the sanctions are lifted and with spiced contractual deals.
“We are interested to come back to Iran when the sanctions are lifted and if the contracts are interesting,” Michel said
Zamaninia also told reporters that Iran won’t have a problem to sell an additional 500,000 barrels a day once the sanctions are lifted, and the quantity won’t have a significant impact on prices.
He said the country hopes it can reach an agreement with fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) so that Iran’s planned additional production remains within the 30 million barrels a day, which is OPEC’s production ceiling.
Iran doesn’t expect OPEC to change that output target at its Dec. 4 meeting, Zanganeh said.
According to the Managing Director of state-run National Iranian Oil Co Roknoddin Javadi, The country plans to boost total oil output capacity to 5.7 million barrels a day by the end of 2020 new production projections.
International companies will need to find a local partner for exploration and production projects, with more than half of engineering and construction and equipment manufacture done by Iranian firms, Javadi said.
The country is offering 52 oil and gas development projects in addition to 18 exploration blocks, according to a brochure from the Iranian oil ministry.
U.S. sanctions on Iran limit it to selling about 1 million barrels of crude a day to China, India, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Taiwan, with additional purchases of condensate, a light oil liquid found in gas deposits, also allowed.
Bloomberg