Minister Sees No Ban on US Energy Firms’ Operation in Iran’s Oil Sector
(FNA)- Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said US energy firms may apply for running operations in Iranian market.
"Despite the ban imposed by the US government on American companies' presence in Iran, the Iranian administration does not intend to ban their participation in our oil projects," Namdar Zanganeh said in a TV program on Saturday.
Zanganeh added that Tehran wants to give a chance to the Americans to vie with their European rivals.
Iran, which sits on the world's second largest reserves of both oil and gas, faced US sanctions over its civilian nuclear program for the last several years.
Iranian officials have always stressed that the International and unilateral sanctions against Iran have had no result but inflicting damage on the European companies.
They have dismissed US sanctions as inefficient, saying that they found Asian partners instead. A large number of Chinese, Indian and other Asian firms have negotiated or signed up to oil and gas deals with Iran.
Following US pressures on companies to stop business with Tehran, many western companies decided to do a balancing act. They tried to maintain their presence in Iran, which is rich in oil and gas, but not getting into big deals that could endanger their interests in the US.
Yet, after oil giants in the West witnessed that their absence in big deals has provided Chinese, Indian and Russian companies with excellent opportunities to sign up to an increasing number of energy projects and earn billions of dollars, they started showing increasing interest to invest or expand work in Iran, specially now that Tehran and the six world powers have struck a nuclear deal and are preparing to put an end to the sanctions in coming months.
In May, 2014, at least five companies with US government contracts were in Tehran to attend the Iran Oil Show, a several day conference that enables international corporations to hobnob with top Iranian officials and plan for a full return to Tehran’s lucrative energy market, according to an analysis of the 600 companies that attended the oil expo.
Five of the companies that reportedly attended the oil show had contracts with the US government totaling billions of dollars which was a telling indication of the weakening of the international sanctions regime and imminent defiance of the western companies.
After reaching the interim agreement with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) in Geneva on November 23, 2013, large delegations from across the world came to Tehran to win a share of the country's emerging lucrative market, specially in the oil and gas sector.
And following the recent agreement hammered out between Iran and the sextet in the Austrian capital on June 14, Iran has been inundated with a flood of offers made by various European companies that want as big as possible a share in the country's untapped market. Offers have been presented not just in written proposals, but also through emails and even phone calls.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel recently brought a large trade delegation and was the first senior European leader to visit Iran since the Vienna agreement.
France's main business lobby group, the Medef, will send its delegation to Tehran in September, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said upon arrival in Tehran last Wednesday.
However, Iran is scrutinizing offers by foreign trade firms and states to select the best economic partners from among a pool of proposals, Iranian Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said last week, stressing that Tehran does not want expand ties on the basis of imports.
"Under the current circumstances, Iran is faced with a flood of offers and will definitely act selectively due to its own conditions and benefits," he added.
The spokesman explained that Iran hails and receives those Europeans who are slated to make investments in Iran, to share their technological know-how with the country, and to open their gateways to Iranian non-oil products.