Iranian Official Says Country Open to Foreign Investment in Oil, Gas Projects

An Iranian official has said that the country's oil and gas projects are open to foreign investors.

Hamid Bovard, Managing Director of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC), said the company has already started negotiations with the European companies and some investment projects have been prepared, Fars News Agency reported Friday.

He pointed to the ongoing energy talks between Iran and Russia, and said, "Talks between Tehran and Moscow are part of the NISOC talks with foreign investors who are interested in investment in Iran's oil and gas projects.”

Earlier this week Shana News Agency reported that two Russian companies have agreed to invest in Iran’s gas industry. The two sides met on the sidelines of a visit to Moscow by an Iranian delegation to the 21st World Petroleum Congress in June.

During the meeting, they discussed further cooperation on investment and implementation of infrastructural projects in gas industry and the Russian companies agreed to build gas pipelines for Iran, Shana said. The two side expressed confidence of carrying the cooperation forward. 

Iran hold one of the biggest gas reserves in the world, primarily in the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf. The field is estimated to hold 14 trillion cubic meters of gas as well as 18 billion barrels of condensates.

Iran is unable to fully exploit its share due to lack of technology and investment from foreign firms as result of sanctions imposed on the country.