A Delegation from American Oil Companies is Going to Iran

Reports indicate that a delegation from American oil companies is traveling to Iran. In this context, the Italian oil giant has also held negotiations with Iran's Minister of Oil. The Mehr News Agency reported on Monday, April 14, citing the Deputy Minister of Oil, that an American oil delegation is visiting Tehran this week and is set to meet and discuss with several officials and manufacturers in Iran's oil industry. Abbas Shaeri Moghadam, Deputy Minister of Oil and CEO of the National Petrochemical Company, told the news agency that 'it is expected that with the visit of this American oil delegation to Tehran and if sanctions on the oil industry are lifted in the future, we will witness the presence of major international oil and gas companies from the United States in Iran.' The report adds that the American oil delegation is coming to Tehran this week to familiarize themselves with new investment opportunities and even to collaborate with Iranian oil companies, contractors, and manufacturers. Mehr News Agency writes that Shaeri Moghadam recently also mentioned in an interview with Mehr that several European-American companies have expressed readiness to invest in new petrochemical projects and stated that 'negotiations with companies from Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy for participation in petrochemical industries have begun.' In this context, Reuters also reported on Monday, covering Mehr's report, that the report did not mention details of the trip or the names of the companies, but the political nuclear agreement reached on April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland, between Iran and six world powers has paved the way for a comprehensive nuclear agreement. Reuters writes that according to U.S. sanctions laws, no American company, directly or indirectly, has the right to trade with Iran, its oil sector, and officials of the Islamic Republic, nor to invest in Iran. In response to Mehr News Agency's inquiry about whether there are any restrictions on American investments in petrochemical industries according to Iranian laws, Shaeri Moghadam emphasized: 'No, there are no restrictions on foreign investment in the country, because when these companies take action for investment, they register an Iranian company, and that company can operate in Iran without restrictions.' Recently, it was also announced that a $70 billion investment opportunity in Iran's petrochemical sector is available for foreign companies. The visit of a delegation from American oil companies to Iran comes as Fars News Agency reported on Monday about a meeting between officials from the Italian company Eni and Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran's Minister of Oil. According to this report, the Italian oil giant is keen to return to Iran's oil and gas projects. Previously, reports had also emerged about negotiations between Iran and companies such as Total from France, Lukoil from Russia, and others. Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, Western companies began to leave Iran, so that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iran has not been able to bring any new oil field into operation since 2007. In this context, IRNA reported on Monday, quoting Abdolreza Hosseinzadeh, CEO of the Oil Engineering and Development Company, that 'the number of international oil companies approaching Iran has increased in recent days.' He stated, 'International oil companies are waiting for the lifting of sanctions and have announced that they will begin their activities as soon as the sanctions are lifted.' He implicitly referred to the 'overpricing' by the Chinese in oil contracts, saying, 'The Italian company Eni worked for us and the cost of each barrel of oil was $7,700, but the same work is done by the Chinese for $34,000, while we also execute it at a cost between $14,000 and $17,000.'