Iran nod for oil bids by local companies

Iranian energy companies including one linked to the Revolutionary Guards, will be allowed to bid for major oil projects previously earmarked for foreign firms, the oil minister said on Sunday.

The move follows complaints from conservatives that foreign energy companies are being allowed to take the lead on major projects as Iran emerges from international isolation.

Companies linked to two major Iranian conglomerates — Khatam Al Anbia, which is controlled by the elite Revolutionary Guards, and Setad, which is supervised by the supreme leader’s office — both said they wished to enter bids to develop the huge South Azadegan oil field in southwestern Iran.

“They asked us to give them a three-month period to bid for this field and we agreed,” Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said at a news conference in Tehran, according to the ministry’s news agency Shana.

The vice-president of the National Iranian Oil Company, Gholamreza Manouchehri, told a news conference on Wednesday that South Azadegan and other major projects would be reserved for international firms, with Iranian companies as minority partners.