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Tehran to invite bids for 24 key oil blocks

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Iran will offer 24 exploration blocks soon but will not be able to meet a 2010 production target of five million barrels per day (bpd), a senior Iranian oil official was quoted as saying.

Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was quoted as saying Iran could instead achieve 4.5 million bpd by the end of the current five-year plan that runs until March 2010.
Iranian production is currently hovering around 3.85 million bpd, below its 4.11 million bpd quota set by Opec.
Analysts say Iran is unable to attract enough investment, particularly from foreign firms who have vital technical knowhow, to meet its ambitious plans to boost output.
“Iran will put out to tender 24 exploration blocks soon,” Nozari was quoted by the Oil Ministry's website as saying.
Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh was quoted earlier as saying Iran had redrafted its standard energy development contracts, known as buy backs, as part of a review process aimed at making them more attractive.
Under buy backs, investment in developing a field is rewarded with a share of production for a short period before the state repurchases the field. Foreign firms often complain the compensation period is too short.
The Oil Ministry has in the past met opposition from conservative lawmakers when it has tried to open up to foreign investment in Iran with the second largest reserves after Saudi Arabia.

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