TEHRAN – Nothing can prevent Iran to regain its share of the oil export market, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told the Tehran Times in a press conference after opening the 20th Oil, Gas, Refining, and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran (Iran Oil Show 2015) in Tehran on Wednesday.

“It is not our responsibility to preserve the level of oil price and the share of Iran. I think OPEC is so much sure to understand the situation and take the right action and modify the market situation, Zanganeh said. 

“Oil-producing countries should create space for Iran when we increase our exports after sanctions are lifted,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zanganeh said that the lifting of sanctions should not be construed as leaving the domestic production unsupported. Of course, it should be welcomed as an opportunity to import modern technologies.

“Now, it is time to get the upper hand for negotiating with foreign companies which are willing to invest in the Iranian oil sector, though they left us alone in tough times.”

Speeding up the development of joint oil and gas fields, benefiting from technical and financial resources of international companies, has been prioritized, he stressed.

Some 1,200 Iranian and 600 foreign companies have registered to showcase their achievements at Iran Oil Show. British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Chinese companies are among participants.

The four-day event will see officials outlining future plans for the industry, one of the cornerstones of Iran’s economy.

Western sanctions have cut Iran's oil exports by more than half to about 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) from a pre-2012 level of 2.5 million bpd.

In April, Zanganeh said it will take just a few months for the country to increase its oil production to pre-sanction levels. 

The prospects for the removal of sanctions in light of an emerging final agreement between Iran and P5+1 over the country’s nuclear energy program have already made Iran prepare for a post-sanctions era. To the same effect, it is modifying its oil contracts to make them more attractive to investors.  

Mehdi Hosseini, the head of Iran's Oil Contracts Revision Committee, said Iran plans to unveil new oil and gas investment opportunities in a London conference in September. 

In August 2014, Hosseini said Iran’s new contract, known as the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), would be a longer duration that the previous “buyback” contract.

Current Iranian law requires foreign companies to partner with local firms. However, authorities have already circulated new draft contracts to international oil firms, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to Reuters, offering a favorable rate of return for foreign investors.

MG