Iran Says Eyeing 14 Oil, Gas Exploration Tenders
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran is readying its first round of oil and gas exploration tenders since the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions, an Iranian energy official said on Monday.
France's Total last week became the first oil major to sign a post-sanctions development deal with Iran. Russia's Lukoil and Denmark's Maersk are also potential investors.
Next on the horizon is the search for new oil, with the state national oil company (NIOC) planning to tender 14 oil and gas blocks for exploration in the next two to three months, NIOC's deputy director for exploration blocks, Rahim Nematollahi, said on the sidelines of an energy industry conference in Istanbul, according to Reuters.
He also said that BP, Austria's OMV, Gazprom, Lukoil as well as Italy's Edison and Malaysia's Petronas have expressed interest in new exploration blocks.
Most of the new exploration blocks are in the Zagros, Koppet Dagh and the Middle Eastern Persian Gulf region and would require minimum exploration expenditure of between 14 million euros ($16 million) and 80 million euros.
The sanctions were removed after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 finalized a lasting nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
