Iran plans to launch an oil and gas bidding round for foreign firms in October 2016; the first tender is expected to occur between 14 and 21 October 2016 and may be for the South Azadegan oil field in the south-west of the country.
New contracts, divided into three main categories, namely exploration, development (of a discovered field leading to production) and EOR (to raise production levels), would be introduced as part of the bidding round. They would be up to 20-year long from the start of development and could be extended for 5 years in case of use of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques.
Iran expects to sign three contracts by the end of the year, to raise US$10bn in revenues. The country, which needs foreign investment to repair and upgrade its oil and gas fields, has signed seven initial agreements with foreign oil companies, including OMV, Total , Wintershall, Pertamina, Lukoil and Zarubezhneft.