Iran's "New Method" in Drawing Foreign Investment (IranVNC)

As the United States heightens its pressure to isolate Iran from foreign investors and possibly implement further sanctions, Reuters reports that the Islamic Republic has begun to respond by preparing more than 15 major oil and gas projects involving a so-called "new method" to draw foreign investment.
The announcement comes as an increasing number of firms have been withdrawing from their investment plans in Iran due to the dispute over its nuclear ambitions and the UN sanctions imposed against it.
Recently, French energy company Total confirmed their retreat from Iran stating that such an investment would be too "risky".
Just last week, Norwegian oil and gas group, StatoilHydro, said that it will no longer make new investments in that country and will halt all talks about developing Iran's Azar oil field.
The managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company expressed his optimism in the projects saying quote:

"We will prepare project packages ready to be introduced and submitted to international financial markets...Each one of these packages is a major project and there are more than 15, so that we can attract foreign partners and new financial resources."
Though oil officials did not give out details about the "new method", they did mention that 10 of the 15 projects will be introduced by March 2009.
Some speculate that the newly developed "method" may simply be a revised version of Iran's "buy-back" scheme, where foreign investors return field operations to the NIOC upon completion of the development project and then make up for their initial investment by receiving a portion of the revenues for a limited time.
With exports amounting to nearly 2.5 million barrels of crude a day, Iran's oil output is over 4 percent of the world's oil supply. Also, with rising oil prices, it has been able conjure up profits.
Yet, to many experts, Iran lacks the technology and capital to significantly expand its production, which is why it continues to rely on foreign investors.
With the threat of sanctions now imminent, Iran encounters a more serious economic challenge.
According to the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, major business transactions with Iran dropped by 50% in 2008, resulting in a dive in profits of about 100 billion dollars since last year.

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