In anticipation of the lifting of oil sanctions, Iran is actively developing contacts with all possible partners for the development of its oil and gas market, which is in desperate need of investments and modern technologies, which can be provided by foreign companies that were successfully developing during the sanctions pressure on the Islamic Republic. Among those invited for cooperation are Russian companies and Azerbaijan's SOCAR.
In particular, the first vice-president of SOCAR, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, informed about a direct invitation to invest in the Iranian oil and gas sector, adding that the list of proposed offshore projects does not include any of those disputed with the Azerbaijan areas of the Caspian Sea. Iran is also pleased to see Azerbaijani investments in any onshore fields.
However, are Iranian deposits attractive for investments in the current environment of oil overproduction and falling demand for energy sources? Not all large oil and gas companies are rushing to invest in the Iranian market.
For example, the press secretary of the Vice-President of Rosneft, Mikhail Leontiev, in conversation with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, reported that the company has no plans to enter Iran. "In terms of production or investments we are interested in almost all countries, Rosneft is a global company, but not all the conditions are interesting for us. For example, we will not enter Iran like, for example, Lukoil works in Iraq, where, in fact, it serves as a contractor for a very small margin. Rosneft does not work like that, even though we consider all proposals," Mikhail Leontyev explained.
The head of the Baku Oil Research Center, Ilham Shaban, concluding Leontiev's remark, drew attention to the strict conditions set by Iran on foreign companies, despite the invitation. "Let me remind you that for a long time there was no information about the onshore fields of Iran as a closed country, however, there were exaggerated claims that there, especially in the Persian Gulf, oil is produced on land like water. Now, after the lifting of sanctions became obvious, the oil companies became interested in what was going on – and suddenly the Iranian government says that it will not allow contracts for joint development of the type of production share agreement (PSA), considering such an agreement on production sharing "below their dignity." A previous version of buy-back, for maintenance services, on the other hand, is completely uninteresting for foreign companies," Ilham Shaban said.
