International Oil Exhibition; An Opportunity to Stimulate Investment

The 21st International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemicals in Iran began on Thursday morning in Tehran. According to IRNA, the official news agency of Iran, 1900 companies are participating, of which 880 are from 38 foreign countries. This year's exhibition, which will continue until Sunday, features companies such as Siemens from Germany, Lukoil, and Gazprom from Russia, which had previously refrained from participating in Iran and even in Iranian oil exhibitions. Roknoddin Javadi, the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, reported a decrease in the presence of domestic companies due to space shortages, while also noting an increase in the number of foreign companies. Companies from countries such as Germany, China, Italy, the UAE, France, and the USA (through European representatives) are present at the Tehran oil industry exhibition, including reputable companies that are attending Iran for the first time, such as Lincoln Electric (USA), OMV (Austria), and Saipem (Italy). Nasir Shirkhani, an oil and energy expert residing in London, believes that the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers and the implementation of the JCPOA have played a role in attracting many countries to this important international exhibition. Iran's efforts to regain its position in global oil markets, due to political tensions with Saudi Arabia and that country's influence in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have led the Islamic Republic to insist on increasing production despite opposition from its oil rivals. From this perspective, any Iranian oil activity in an international framework could impact the expansion of relations between Iran and those oil companies interested in purchasing Iranian oil. Meanwhile, oil prices have experienced significant fluctuations over the past 19 months, with countries like Venezuela suffering the most from falling crude oil prices, and Russia's budget balance severely affected by these fluctuations. Saudi Arabia's economy has also been significantly impacted by the declining oil prices, leading to a budget deficit of $98 billion last year. Nasir Shirkhani believes that holding the international oil industry exhibition in Iran, following the success of the nuclear negotiations, will influence Iran's marketing in oil production, stimulate foreign investment, and encourage participation from major oil companies with Iran. The 21st International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemicals is being held this year under the slogan 'Attracting Investment and Technology Transfer' in a space of approximately 70,000 square meters at the permanent exhibition center in Tehran.