Official Denies Halt to New-Style Iran Oil Contract
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian oil official dismissed comments by an MP that a new format of the country’s oil contracts has been abandoned, saying the high degree of sensitivity requires experts to spend more time on formulating the final version of the contract before it comes into force.
Speaking to Tasnim on Tuesday, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said the process of development of the country’s oil industry under the new model of contracts, known as the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), has not been interrupted.
Rejecting any halt to the IPC, Kardor said putting the new model into practice has taken longer because of the “high sensitivity” and the serious attention that NIOC experts need to pay to every single article of the contract.
He also noted that preparations are being made for announcement this weekend of the terms of a tender offer for the companies that have already qualified to work in Iran’s oil industry under the new-style contract.
Iran has been working on the oil contract model for the past two years. The country hopes to draw as much as $50 billion a year from major oil companies such as Italy’s Eni SpA and France’s Total to develop its oil and gas fields.
