News / Energy

Shell in talks with Iran oil company

Saturday, 09 May 2015 9:53 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 09 May 2015 9:57 AM ]

An Iranian oil official says indirect talks with Shell have already started.

Managing Director of Iran’s Pars Oil Company says oil giant Shell has voiced interest to resume activities in the country’s energy sector.

Hossein Vafaee said indirect talks have already started with Shell. The Iranian official also forecast “tough conditions” for Iran once after sanctions against the country are removed.

“If sanctions are removed, many rivals will enter the Iranian market and this will make tough conditions for us,” Forsat Emrooz Newspaper quoted Vafaee as saying.

He reiterated that Iran is after regaining its share of regional and global energy markets when sanctions imposed against the country over its nuclear program are lifted.

Iran’s oil exports have been cut by more than 50% to nearly 1.1 million barrels per day from a pre-2012 level of 2.5 million bpd.

Earlier this month, an Iranian petroleum ministry official announced that several top Ads European energy corporations have voiced interest in the new format of oil contracts with Iran.

The announcement has been made by Mehdi Hosseini, the head of an expert team that has been set up by the Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) to revise the current format of Iran's oil contracts.

File image of an oil platform in the Persian Gulf waters.

Hosseini added that some Russian and Chinese companies have also informed the MoP that they are interested in Iran's new oil deals which will be unveiled in a conference in London in September. However, he did not provide the names of the companies.

“International oil majors have strongly welcomed Iran's new format of oil contracts,” he told IRNA. “They are waiting for the results of Iran's nuclear talks [with P5+1] and the removal of sanctions [against Iran],” he added.

The new format of Iran’s oil contracts - named as Iran Petroleum Contract (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.

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