Delay Again in Holding Iran's Oil Tenders

Iran has delayed the holding of tenders based on the new oil contract model for several times. Ali Kardar, the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, announced on Tuesday, June 30, that the first oil tender for the development of the Azadegan field has been postponed for several months to give foreign companies enough time to study the field. According to ISNA news agency, he stated that whether the tender is held or not, the results of the foreign companies' studies are very beneficial and provide a better understanding of the extraction rate, lifespan, and recoverable reserves. A few months before the lifting of nuclear sanctions, Iran invited international companies to Tehran and unveiled the generalities of the new oil contract model. Iran also introduced 49 oil and gas projects for foreign investors based on these types of contracts known as 'IPC'. However, with the rise of domestic criticisms, especially from the conservative faction, the Iranian government changed the terms of the new oil contracts several times. Ultimately, with the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, which took a tougher stance against Iran compared to Barack Obama's administration, some foreign companies announced that they were currently pursuing a wait-and-see policy. Meanwhile, since the beginning of last year, Iran has repeatedly announced that the first tender for the development of the Azadegan field, which has 37 billion barrels of oil reserves and is also shared with Iraq, would be held. Mr. Kardar regarding the further delay in holding the Azadegan tender said, 'We have sent invitations to various companies and are receiving responses. Some companies have expressed interest, while others have shown no willingness to participate in this oil field tender. The tender will be held among the companies that have expressed readiness in a limited manner.' He added, 'We had given these companies until the end of the week to express their interest and readiness, but some of them requested more time to find their partners.' The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company stated that the documents for holding the Azadegan oil field tender are ready, and regarding the timing of the tender, he said, 'The holding of the Azadegan oil field tender will not reach the end of the eleventh government because we have not signed memorandums of understanding with all companies, and some companies need three to four months to study this field.' In this context, Reuters also reported, referring to Kardar's remarks, that only the companies 'Total' from France, 'Petronas' from Malaysia, and 'Inpex' from Japan have so far conducted studies for the development of the Azadegan oil field. Iran has approved the qualifications of 34 companies to participate in oil tenders based on the 'IPC' model, with Russia leading the list with six companies.