Lifting of sanctions on Iran will lead to drastic changes as Iranian businesses open to regional and global markets, concludes the Opportunity Iran 2015 report by MEED, which reveals Tehran will sign $100bn worth of energy deals once economic sanctions are fully lifted. The main sanctions which include the United Nations, US and European Union will be lifted by the end of the year after a final assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
After the lifting the sanctions, the report states that, large-scale investment in oil, gas and petrochemicals projects will be a top priority.
Even though Iran has the fourth largest oil reserves and the largest gas reserves in the world, years of isolation from global markets has left the sector in need of modernisation.
Iran aims to expand its oil sector in two phases; the first phase will see National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) reviving its crude output to pre-2012 levels as sanctions relief opens up export markets; From 2020 onwards, Iranian crude capacity is set to increase and investment will allow NIOC to deploy enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology at its older fields, revive stalled field developments, and carry out greenfield developments at untapped assets.