Italy’s oil giant Eni said on Sunday it is interested in returning to Iran if sanctions against the country are lifted.

Eni, which is seen as one of the largest energy groups of Europe, also said an expected change in Iranian oil contracts that would guarantee a share of production from projects could expedite its return to the country.

“That should be the fast way to restarting in Iran,” Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive, has told the Financial Times.

He had reportedly voiced his company’s interest to return to Iran in a personal meeting with the country’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh at an OPEC summit in Vienna in 2014.

Similar positions have so far been made by several other top global energy giants including Total, Lukoil, Shell as well as leading Chinese oil companies.

Prior to meeting Descalzi in Vienna, Iran’s Zangeneh had told reporters he wanted seven international energy corporations back in Iran’s oil industry. The corporations he named included BP, Statoil, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips apart from Eni, Total and Shell.

The prospects for return to Iran’s oil market were discussed in a forum in Vienna this past Thursday. Participants reportedly included executives from Chevron, Amec Foster Wheeler and others.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries are working on a final agreement over the Iranian nuclear energy program that has a deadline of June 30. A key point of the agreement will be the removal of a series of economic sanctions on Iran – specifically some of those that ban foreign investments in the country’s oil and gas projects.

Before leaving Iran due to the US-engineered sanctions, Eni was involved in a series of oil sector projects including the development of South Pars Phases 4&5 as well as Doroud and Balal oil fields.

Source: Press TV