Mohammad Iravani Chairman & CEO of Dana Energy and Amir Hossein Kaveh Deputy CEO of Sadid Industrial Group

What has been your business model for developing projects and generating rapid growth for your respective companies?

Mohammad Iravani Dana Energy completely belongs to the private sector. It currently works in three segments; exploration and production, upstream services, and energy trading. It was an advantage to take part in the South Pars project, developing four drilling phases: 15, 16, 17B, and 18B. We have drilled forty-four wells over these years. It is a remarkable success for the private sector to finish this major project. For the new IPC contracts, the Ministry of Petroleum is trying to incorporate foreign partners. In this regard, we are in negotiations with several international companies and will continue approaching other companies to expand negotiations.

Amir Hossein Kaveh SADID Industrial Group's activities include the production of oil and gas and operations in the electricity sector, and we also have some EPC contractors and investment companies. The majority of our portfolio is focused on the energy sector, since we decided predominantly to get involved in megaprojects within the oil, gas, water, and electricity fields. The main activities that we conduct in these areas are the production and development of infrastructure. For example, if we are working on a gas reserve, we can produce gas products and transfer them to any place through our infrastructure projects.

The Ministry of Petroleum says USD200 billion is needed for the upstream industry. What will be the role of Dana Energy in this plan?

MI A part of this USD200 billion will come from the IPC contracts. These agreements are positive for Iranian companies because they allow us to work in partnership with foreign companies and this means growth for the country. In recent years, Iranian companies in the upstream sector were developing and now there are many companies active in different parts of seismic, drilling and drilling services. Part of our contribution to the development of the upstream industry depended on the EPC agreements we signed with oil companies. Our management stability and our large market share of upstream services give us the advantage in contributing to this USD200 billion.

AHK We have developed two major pipelines from Iran to Iraq, to the cities of Baghdad and Basra. Another two pipelines that we have constructed transfer gas from Iran to Russia and Pakistan. The last one, called the IP Project, extends for 1,200km and will be completed in two years. As there is no agreement between Iran and Pakistan over the price of gas, this project is important. Inside Iran, SADID started a pipeline from the border of Pakistan in Iranshahr to Zahedan and Chabahar. We are negotiating with the Minister of Petroleum to establish a pipeline network in the south of Iran to transfer gas to any project in the country. For the Iranian oil fields in the Persian Gulf, we have an agreement to build five jack-up rigs for offshore platforms and we signed a major contract with a Russian company.

What potential is there in the renewable energy sector?

MI Dana Energy is also interested in opening new lines of business for renewable energy, targeting wind farms. We are negotiating JV projects with some European countries for projects within Iran with a target of 200MW, as well as supplying the turbines needed. Our main focus is our Petroleum Products Trading. In 2016, we are focusing on Asia, specifically China and Singapore, but also the Middle East, including the UAE and Oman, where we have opened a branch. We also have possibilities to trade with CIS countries such as Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Moreover, a market study of opportunities in Africa for our upstream services is already underway to develop our business there.

AHK We were one of the first companies in the Middle East to get into the renewable energy sector. Iran has established 125MW of wind turbines, and we made all of them. We have also developed some projects in Armenia and Azerbaijan. We are currently negotiating with European and Chinese companies to expand our renewable energy activities. On one hand, we are investors and owners of wind farms, and on the other we are a contractor for the production of wind turbines. As the oil price has dropped, the environment for selling electricity from power stations has strengthened, and the situation will continue to improve. For renewables, we are in negotiation with Danish and Spanish companies. We are looking to increase our production capacity and get new technology.