Iran Plans for $100Bn Upstream Investment over 5 Years

The director of investment at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has announced plans to attract $100bn of investment over the next five years in upstream oil and gas projects.

Ali Kardor added that just $25bn of the investment will be made based on the new model of contract, known as the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), which was unveiled in November 2015.

Addressing a seminar on financing strategies in the field of energy, Kardor said that $100bn in the upstream sector and $80bn in the downstream sector will be needed in the sixth five-year development plan (2016-2021), and that capital markets can play a key role in securing that finance.

Some $70bn-$75bn has been invested in the oil sector in past years, he said, without specifying over what time period.

Referring to the $100bn investment envisaged in the national development plan, Kardor said $14bn will be provided by the National Development Fund, $10bn by engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPCF) contracts, $8bn by capital markets, $12bn by loans, $31bn by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and $25bn within the framework of IPCs.

Iran has identified 49 oil and gas projects worth $185bn which are planned to be transferred to foreign companies within the framework of the IPC. In addition there will be investment in petrochemicals.

Based on documents obtained by NGE, the country's petrochemical production capacity is projected to exceed 130 million tons/yr, from currently 60 million tons/yr, as a result of planned $32 billion of investments between now and 2021 as outlined in the table below.