The Iranian government plans to release new oil contracts by the end of 2015, according to Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh. The announcement will come at a year-end conference in London, the minister said, and will include at least 50 new oil and gas projects worth an estimated $185 billion.

The contracts will form part of Iran’s Integrated Petroleum Contract” framework and will see Iran give up exploration, development and production rights to foreign firms, under certain operational and environmental conditions. Iranian companies are also expected to form substantive partnerships both with other Iranian firms and some international firms. Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Eni have already expressed interest in the contracts that will soon be up for grabs.

Given the size of Iran’s oil and gas reserves, it’s perhaps no surprise that talks between oil majors and the Iranian petroleum ministry predates the finalization of the nuclear deal. Earlier this year the Iranian government announced that it had received positive “feedback” from Russian and European international oil firms including Lukoil OAO and Total.

US oil and gas firms remain barred from publicly commenting on the prospect of commercial relations with Iran until sanctions are lifted.

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News Briefs:

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