Deputy oil minister meets senior British official

TEHRAN, Nov. 01 (MNA) – Iranian deputy oil minister for international and commerce affairs met and conferred with Britain’s Minister of State for Trade and Investment Francis Maude in Tehran on Sunday morning. Amir Hossein Zamaninia met and talked with the British Minister of State for Trade and Investment Francis Maude on Sunday morning discussing ways of expanding bilateral cooperation in the fields of oil and gas. The British official was accompanied by representatives of BP, OTC and Petrofac oil companies as well as some senior executives of Britain’s energy sector. Zamaninia referred to the upcoming conference in Tehran to introduce Iran’s new oil contracts and stating “the conference will present 50 upstream and downstream oil and gas projects to the investors.” He further announced the holding of the same conference in London in February 2016; “the new oil contracts will facilitate the presence of foreign investors in Iran’s oil industry.” British minister, for his part, described the participating companies as major firms in the international arena active in energy, gas, transportation and engineering service; “the companies have plans for long-term investment in Iran,” said Francis Maude urging secure mechanisms to ensure their investments. The companies' representatives also called for facilitation of their presence in Iranian oil projects and expressed their willingness to attend the conference of introducing new oil contracts.