28-07-04 "Iran's oil and gas sectors require investment, the country’s economic growth is heavily dependent on oil prices," said vice-chairman of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce (TCOC), Jamshid Edalatian.
Edalatian said that many countries go into heavy debt to develop their economy but Iran leans on its oil reserves. He added, "By relying on its oil reserves our country has hit good economic growth."

Referring to the new oil and gas finds in the south of the country, he asserted that Iran ranks second in oil and gas reserves in the world. The country’s Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan has made the necessary provisions for exploration companies to develop fields in which they strike oil.
Iranian laws stipulate that the development of the field will be conducted by the contractor, he noted. Iran will favour firms interested in exploration and will focus on finding new fields outside the oil-rich southwest.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the vice-chairman of the TCOC further stressed that investment in the oil and gas sector is an obligation for the country’s progress.
"We are in need of huge investment in the energy sector," he said.
The new legislation loosens Iran's restrictive "buy-back" agreements in which developers of fields are compensated with output before the fields return to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Buy-back agreements call for many years of negotiation and few have been concluded he pointed out.