BP BP Plc

TEHRAN—Iran on Saturday presented a new model for oil contracts it could offer to foreign oil firms as it seeks to attract Western investors ahead of an end to sanctions.

Though the terms of the contracts' framework had been previously released, the official release coincided with the first international summit specifically focused on the new deals.

Iran announced it would revise its oil contracts two years ago following the election of moderate President Hassan Rouhani and the clinching of an interim nuclear agreement with world powers.

Bijan Zanganeh, Iran's oil minister, told investors he is looking for opportunities for $30 billion in spending in 52 fields soon to be on offer. With the investment, Iran plans to double its production to 5.7 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, compared with 2.7 million barrels a day today.

Under Iran's previous oil contract model for foreign oil firms, called buybacks in the industry, investors were required to keep the costs of oil projects within an agreed level; most investors lose money on the deals if they find more oil than expected.

The proposed new deals will allow more flexibility in recovering costs—including the possibility of choosing repayment in oil or cash—Iranian oil officials said in the presentations. Investors will also be allowed to remain involved in projects for 15 to 20 years—in contrast to previous deals that only entailed developing fields for 5 years or until they reached production.

But foreign companies will have to partner with Iranian oil companies in running the projects.

Iran holds the world's largest reserves of gas and the fifth for oil. Representatives from some European oil companies, including the U.K.'s BP PLC and France's Total SA, attended the event. Mr. Zanganeh also said U.S. companies were welcome to invest in Iran, but no American firm turned up because of an existing U.S. ban on dealing with Iranian oil officials.

Despite the promise of Iran's riches, European oil executives and advisers said they were unsure on whether they would invest there. The presentations still lacked details such an outline of the process by which cost recovery would be approved by the government, the European envoys said. They also said the contract models themselves still had not published in full.

Write to Benoî t Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 29, 2015 20:25 ET (01:25 GMT)

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