TEHRAN: New model oil contracts, designed to lure billions of US dollars in foreign investment for the energy industry, still need revisions and the government is confident the first deals will be signed within months, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.
Regulators reached a “partial consensus” on language in the contracts that were sent to the Cabinet for approval two weeks ago, Zanganeh said in an interview published on Saturday by the semi-official Khabar Online news site. Zanganeh dismissed suggestions the contracts had been delayed, saying “signing oil contracts takes time.” The government is hoping to draw as much as US$50 billion of foreign investment a year from major oil companies such as Italy’s Eni SpA and France’s Total SA.
