伊朗石油又现“回购交易”苗头 国际石油公司犯愁

Iran needs money to boost output from its oil reserves, the world’s fourth largest, because production has been crippled by years of Western sanctions. Some of these were removed in January.

Iran has promised new Iran Petroleum Contracts (IPCs), offering more flexible terms and ending a system known as buy-back contracts that foreign companies say give them a limited return on investment while denying them any rights to the oil, with the Iranian government taking the bulk of the profits.

But on Monday, the newly-appointed managing director of state-run National Iranian Oil Company, Ali Kardor, said oil fields could be developed either through buy-backs or Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing Contracts (EPCF). Joint fields will be offered using the new type of contracts, while Iranian companies will be entrusted with developing a number of fields, Kardor said. Foreign oil companies and Iranian reformists are likely to regard Kardor’s comments as a setback.

Buy-back contracts, used for more than 20 years, pay foreign companies a fee for extracting oil but bar them from claiming any rights to the reserves or taking equity stakes in Iranian companies.