Iran to expand E&D work for foreign firms

An official of Iran's state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) has confirmed that his government plans to broadly expand the slate of oil and gas projects available to international companies under buy-back deals. The official, H. Mothiei, told the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Dubai last week that Tehran would make an official announcement within 2 months. For the first time since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the government will add onshore exploration and development

March 23, 1998

2 min read

Bob Tippee
Managing Editor-Exploration and Economics

The official, H. Mothiei, told the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Dubai last week that Tehran would make an official announcement within 2 months.

For the first time since the Iranian revolution of 1979, the government will add onshore exploration and development opportunities to its appeal for foreign capital.

Development priority

Mothiei said the government would give priority to development of known fields.

He said the list would include Darquain oil field, a 1992 NIOC discovery that NIOC estimates holds 11.18 billion bbl of oil in place. NIOC documents distributed at the conference also named Shanul gas and condensate field; Kuh-e Mond heavy oil field; Shur oil field; and Mehr, Niekabir, and satellites near the Iraqi border.

Mothiei said Iran also would make new offshore development projects available to international operators. They include giant North Pars gas field, phases of South Pars gas field development not covered by the controversial $2 billion deal Tehran has entered into with Total and its partners, and oil fields in the Strait of Hormuz.

Other possible areas of cooperation between Tehran and foreign operators are secondary recovery projects, processing plants, and pipelines.

Sanctions blasted

Also at the conference, the president of the U.S. operator shut out of an Iranian offshore deal by U.S. sanctions in 1995 called for an end to the sanctions policy.

Archie W. Dunham, president and chief executive officer of Conoco Inc., said the U.S. assigns too low a priority to Middle East policy. He criticized sanctions as a tool of foreign policy for not achieving their goals, for harming innocent people, for locking U.S. companies out of international opportunities, and for leading to "devastating harm" caused by sanctions against secondary targets.

"Despite the 1995 quashing of Conoco's agreement with Iran to develop its Sirri fields," Dunham said, "Conoco is proud of being the first western country to conclude a petroleum development agreement in that country since the revolution."