TEHRAN –The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed eight deals worth €1.2 billion with domestic companies on Monday for developing the country’s oil fields, Shana reported.

The deals were signed in a ceremony attended by senior oil industry officials including the Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

The mentioned contracts were inked by two NIOC subsidiaries namely the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) and the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC), as employers, and eight domestic companies for the maintenance of the production level and increasing recovery factor of several oil fields.

The awarded fields are located in various provinces including Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad as well as Hormozgan provinces.

Accordingly, seven contracts for the development of Golkhari, Gachsaran 3 and 4, Binak, Bibi Hakimeh, Soulabdar, and Lali Bangestan were signed with Sina Energy Development Company (SEDC), Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC), Petroiran Development Company, Mashin Sazi Arak, Qeshm, and Maroun Oil and Energy Consortium, National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), and Jahanpars engineering and construction Company, respectively.

Ahvaz 2, 3, and 5 and Reshadat projects were also awarded to the Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters.

Since the reimposition of the U.S. sanctions, the Iranian Oil Ministry has been following a new strategy to encourage the country’s private sector to have a stronger role in the development of the country’s oil industry.

In this regard, NIOC has awarded several exploration and development projects to capable domestic companies in the past two years.

Back in August 2020, NIOC signed 13 deals worth €1.527 billion with domestic companies aiming to add 185,000 barrels per day to the country’s oil production capacity.

EF/MA