MNA– For the first ever time in oil industry, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and a credible Argentinian firm intend to sign a cooperation agreement for oil and gas developmental projects.


Over one century of activity by Iran’s oil industry, the most significant cooperation with a South American company has pertained to Brazil’s state oil giant Petrobras who cooperated with NIOC in Taftan exploration block in the Persian Gulf almost one decade ago.

Accordingly, for the first time ever in the Iranian industry, NIOC and a prominent Argentinian company called Pluspetrol have begun talks over finalizing a contract for development of an Iranian oilfield.

It has been anticipated that, in case of a final agreement between the two sides, the first cooperation agreement will be inked with the Argentinian firm either independently or within the framework of a consortium comprising a number of European companies.

Managing Director of National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) Bijan Alipour, while confirming the held negotiations with Argentina’s Pluspetrol for partnership in developmental plans or elevation of recovery factor in souther Iranian oilfields, said the new model of oil contracts, dubbed as the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), will be sealed if the two parties reach a final agreement.

Moreover, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), in a statement released last week, affirmed adequacy of 29 international oil and gas companies willing to put in tenders for Iran’s upstream oil sector with the name of Argentina’s Pluspetrol on the list.

A senior PlusPetrol official had previously voiced his country’s readiness to make investment in Iran’s upstream oil and gas sector in the post-JCPOA era saying “prospective of investment in the Iranian oil industry proves to be profitable in the long run.”

Pluspetrol remains as a leading gas and gas condensate producer in Argentina who also holds shares in other South American countries like Peru within framework of international consortiums.

The first partnership of Argentinians in Iran is expected to take place at an oil field in the country’s southern regions which mark a hub for crude production.

NISOC seeks to develop four southern oil fields which comprise nine reservoirs on the basis of an international contract.