French company CGG, a leader in cutting-edge geoscience, will not miss the investment opportunities in Iran's oil and gas sector, a high-ranking official of France CGG said on Friday.
Daniel Van Hulle, vice president and geomarket director for Middle East, told IRNA, "We are scrutinizing available choices to get involved with the proposed projects as soon as imposed sanctions are lifted."
Evaluating Iran's Petroleum Contract Summit, in which a new framework for its oil and gas contracts was unveiled, as fruitful, the official added that the summit created an ideal opportunity for international companies to get familiar with the Persian Gulf country's private and state-owned enterprises.
According to the expert, Iranian private sector, notwithstanding all its potential capabilities, is not well-introduced to the international arena as it has mostly been engaged in domestic projects, which explains why the government should support them to be known globally.
CGG has been a pioneer in the advancement of geophysics since the original company was created in 1931. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength—technologically, operationally and financially. It brings its clients a unique range of technologies, services and equipment designed to acquire extremely precise data and images of the Earth's subsurface. The French company also provides state-of-the-art software and services for analyzing that data and developing a deeper understanding of the subsurface for exploration, production and optimization of oil and gas reservoirs.
"Termination of sanctions will turn the world's attention to Iran," Uwe Salge, Germany's Wintershall's new Middle East general manager, said.
Underscoring the fact that the world is in dire need of natural gas as a clean source of energy, he said Iran can play a key role in supplying the much-needed energy as it holds an estimated 34 trillion cubic meters of gas, the world's largest proven reserves.
Salge believes that due to low production costs, investment in Iran's oil and gas sectors is economically viable.
Referring to Iranian officials' determination to develop oil and gas industries, he added, "Iran’s new oil contracts are both reasonable and appealing. Moreover, Wintershall hopes it can contribute to Iran's hydrocarbon reserves' development."
Wintershall is Germany's largest internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer. It explores and produces oil and gas in Europe, North Africa, South America, Russia, the Caspian Sea region and the Middle East. It has been active for over 80 years and has a workforce in excess of 2,500 employees from more than 40 countries.
Reflecting on Iran's new oil contracts, Andreas Hofmann, head of innovations and special studies at SGS, Switzerland, also said, "IPC will definitely facilitate investment in Iran, as foreign companies are planning long-term cooperation with the Persian Gulf country."
According to Hofmann, IPC is well-written and it has almost covered Iran's previous oil and gas contracts' weak points.
"What is important for us is to fully understand Iran's expectations and to formulate a plan to satisfy them the best way possible," he added.
Pointing to Iran's insistence on technology transfer as an indispensable part of it contracts, the SGS official said, "International companies will welcome it as it is not only realistic but also feasible. Moreover, nothing is more important for international energy enterprises than meeting commitments."
Hofmann believes that there will be intense competition to enter Iran's untapped oil and gas market as some giants have already started negotiations with Iranian officials.
Praising Iran's domestic engineering capabilities in implementing oil and gas projects, he said, "Iran's strong skilled workforce is capable enough to get involved in multinational projects."
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. It is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 80,000 employees, it operates a network of more than 1,650 offices and laboratories around the world.
Iran unveiled last week a new framework for its oil and gas contracts in a much-anticipated conference that brought together hundreds of domestic and international oil and gas companies in Tehran. The Persian Gulf country also unveiled 52 projects for development and exploration of its rich hydrocarbon fields in a two-day event that drew generally positive responses from Iranian and foreign officials.
