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Friday, December 6, 2013

Iran Names 7 Western Oil Companies It Wants to Return

Iran has named seven Western oil companies it wants back in its vast oil and gas fields once international sanctions are lifted.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh named the seven: Total of France, Royal Dutch Shell, Italy's ENI, Norway's Statoil, Britain's BP, and Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips of the United States, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The sanctions instituted in 2012 have choked out foreign investment in Iran’s oil industry and pushed production down to 2.65 million barrels a day in November. In 2011, Iran’s production averaged 4.3 million bpd.

Zanganeh met senior executives from Eni and Shell on Thursday, an Iranian oil official said.


Notably, Zanganeh made no mention of Russian, Chinese or Japanese companies or those of other nationalities. Asked whether he would like to see Asian, Indian, Chinese companies coming to Iran as well, he said: “Yes, but now we are discussing with Western (firms).” (Reuters, 5 December)

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