Just when big oil was preparing to sign the new Iranian Petroleum Contracts and start working the country’s vast fields, hardliners once again took the upper hand. On Monday, the new head of the National Iranian Oil Company announced that the old buyback contracts that the country used before the sanction era will stage a comeback as an alternative to the new IPC. The announcement signals that political hardliners, who objected to the introduction of the new IPC as a more attractive alternative to the buyback contracts are increasing the pressure on the reformist camp. Thanks to precisely this pressure, the official presentation of the IPC was delayed several times, but Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh managed to push forward with it. Most recently, Zanganeh said the first tenders for the development of some 15 fields could be launched as early as this month. The old buyback contracts pushed away […]