TEHRAN (PIN) – Iran’s Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari here Saturday said the government was after open competition, making every effort to create opportunities for participation of domestic contractors in oil and gas projects.

The minister made the statement at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Seminar on Challenges & Opportunities of Iranian Companies in Oil & Gas Contracts.
He said the cabinet was duty-bound to support the private sector, adding, “If the related rules and regulations are deficient, we are ready to offer the flaws to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) in the bills.”
Nozari pointed to the setup of investment funds and a “bank of oil industry” in an attempt to meet the financial need of contractors.
“Article 44 of the Constitution has appropriately prepared the ground for boosting the private sector,” said the top official, reiterating that the government had focused on free competition and opportunities for local contractors.
The cabinet was determined to speed up the implementation of projects and the Oil Working Group was formed to conduct thorough studies on oil and gas projects in a bid to make immediate decisions and accelerate the operations, Nozari added.
The oil minister blamed the rules of some contracts for restricting maneuver, vowing that they would be amended and a major part of problems would be settled.
Nozari termed every challenge as an opportunity for success, exemplifying that the recent gas cuts in the country and a long cold snap caused people to place a high value on fuel and save the energy carrier.
“In this sector, the consumption pattern and energy transfer system need a review,” said the minister, adding, “To this end, we require a capable state and therefore local contractors need to develop.
“At present, 460 million cubic meters of gas is injected into the national grid. To supply replacements for gas, the country’s power plants are delivering 105 million liters of gas oil and furnace oil to the Ministry of Energy.”
Shifting to the challenges facing the oil industry, he said globalization, cutthroat competition with international companies, progress and access to the state-of-the-art technologies, and price fluctuations in projects were among the challenges.
He, however, said opportunities in Iran outnumbered challenges, noting that the main point was to apply the capabilities and capacities. Nozari attached great importance to seminars, adding issues discussed in the gatherings should be turned to decisions that help the government achieve the objectives.
Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister for Planning Affairs Akbar Torkan termed domestic contractors as the arms of executive bodies.
“Given large reserves, allocation of some 500 billion dollars to plans to encourage strong participation of domestic manufacturers, and implementation of huge development plans, Iran’s oil industry is offering local companies exceptional opportunities,” said the deputy minister.
“If a local contract is sidelined, a foreign contractor fills its shoes,” warned Torkan, underlining that executive organizations were giving first priority to fully supporting general and specialized contractors of the country.”
He said Iranian contractors had low capital capacity, adding that the consulting companies’ expertise only in one field of activity was one of the challenges facing domestic contractors.
The official referred to lack of attention to time management during the implementation of plans, current negative atmosphere toward support of contractors, lack of access to sufficient information technology (IT) in design and implementation of projects, technical and technological problems, and inappropriate management during the implementation of big projects as other challenges Iranian companies were grappling with.
Offering solutions to current challenges, Torkan opined that companies needed to increase their capitals, local contractors were required to set up a consortium with their experienced international counterparts, the companies should be dynamic and improve their flexibility, banks and general contractors had to have close cooperation in huge projects, and Iranian contractors should be backed in a bid to reduce the risks of projects.