Iran finalises upstream qualification list

摘要

Iran’s state-owned NIOC has named the 29 foreign firms that have pre-qualified to participate in its upcoming licensing rounds. Most of the companies are from Europe and east Asia (see table). Some of the firms entered provisional agreements with NIOC last year, including Shell, Total and Russian private-sector producer Lukoil. China’s statecontrolled Sinopec and CNOOC have pre-qualified as bidders, but did not reach any deals with NIOC in 2016. BP is the largest European firm not included in the list, and Norway’s state-controlled Statoil is conspicuously absent, given its work in Iran before the US and the EU imposed nuclear-related sanctions.