Iran’s state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has invited companies to prequalify to bid on forthcoming tenders to manage production at its oil and gas fields, according to Shana, the news agency affiliated with the country’s petroleum ministry.

Prequalification documents as well as information relating to procedures, criteria and evaluation mechanisms will be available on NIOC’s website from 17 October.

The deadline to submit pre-qualification documentation is 19 November, while the final list of pre-qualified applicants will be available on the NIOC’s website on 7 December.

The tender rounds are related to upstream projects in Iran but the announcement did not elaborate on specific projects or whether international oil and gas companies are also invited to bid. NIOC said that interested “reputable exploration and production (E&P) or integrated oil companies” have been invited to prequalify. 

The NIOC is also set to invite international oil companies (IOCs) to bid on the development of its South Azadegan field on October 21. The tender, if it goes ahead will be the first under the new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) model, aimed at inviting foreign firms to help develop the Iranian oil and gas industry.

The contract model allows IOCs to remain operators after capacity is developed, with no ceiling on capital expenditure.

In September, the national oil company was in discussions with Russia’s Lukoil to develop the Ab Teymour and Mansouri oil fields located in the Khuzestan Province in the southwest.

In July, the NIOC said it would release a list of 37 international oil companies eligible to bid on oil and gas developments over the following two months. However, there has been no announcement since then.

The Iranian oil and gas sector needs investment of over $100bn to develop energy infrastructure to meet output targets, according to the Tehran government.