Foreign contractors have long complained about the highly restrictive buyback contracts. But Qasemi spoke only of trying to make the buyback system more attractive to Iranian contractors, not to foreign ones.
With the exception of Asian firms, foreign contractors have almost totally disappeared from Iranian oil and gas fields.
Under a buyback contract, a firm regains its investment plus an agreed profit by taking the production of an oil or gasfield once it comes on line. But the contracts have many limitations and restrictions that international firms long complained about. Some analysts think the buyback system drove many foreign investors away even before sanctions really began to bite.
Qasemi made the announcement in a speech to local contractors.
He also told the meeting that banks in other countries make loans to domestic firms at low interest rates, while in Iran banks charge 20 to 30 percent. But those low interest rates prevail in nations with low inflation. Inflation in Iran by official measurements already approaches 20 percent.