Energy Compass quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Sara Vakhshouri on foreign investments in Iran following the lifting of sanctions per the recently negotiated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1:
While Iran’s Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act generally puts no limitations on the share of investment for foreign investors, enabling up to 100% ownership, the situation is different in the upstream oil and gas sector. “Foreign investors were in the past required to enter into joint ventures with an Iranian local partner. This is to maintain domestic control over sensitive upstream oil and gas projects,” said Sara Vakhshouri, president of Washington-based SVB Energy International, an energy consultancy.
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Experts say the guards are connected to many, possibly hundreds, of companies in the country, making it potentially difficult and time-consuming to avoid entering into business with them, knowingly or not. “This will complicate and prolong the duration of negotiations and choosing the domestic partner for the foreign firms,” Vakshouri said.