By Guy Faulconbridge
TEHRAN, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell willrepay a $2 billion debt to the National Iranian Oil Company(NIOC) when sanctions on Iran are lifted and will considerinvesting in the country's vast energy sector, Shell's boss fornew business said.
Much would depend on the terms offered by the IslamicRepublic once sanctions were lifted, said Edward Daniels,Shell's executive vice-president for commercial and newbusiness development. He was speaking to Reuters while on aBritish government visit to reopen the country's embassy inTehran.
"We are very pleased to have been part of this historicdelegation. Clearly Iran remains under sanctions with timebefore sanctions will be unwound and clearly we will beabsolutely adhering to all sanctions," Daniels said.
"Having said that, when sanctions are removed we will lookto examine possible options to work in Iran."
As part of the UK delegation, Shell met Iranian Oil MinisterBijan Namdar Zangeneh and Central Bank Governor Valiollah Seif in Tehran.
"Iran is and will be an important potential business areabut of course it will have to rank with other projects that wehave across the world -- so yes it is a very large player in oiland gas reserves but projects need to make economic sense forour company," Daniels said.
Iran has 9.3 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, thefourth largest after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada, and18.2 percent of the world's natural gas reserves, bigger eventhat Russia's 17.4 percent share, according to the BPStatistical Review of World Energy.
Daniels would not be drawn on when more Iranian crude oilcould come back on to the market.
"I am not going to speculate on that I'm afraid. That isvery much bound up with when and how sanctions are unwound andthat is a little bit in the lap of others," he said.
Shell has around $2 billion in outstanding debt to theIslamic Republic as a result of Iranian oil deliveries whichShell had been unable to pay for due to sanctions.
"We would like to make that payment as soon as possible. Asyet, we cannot do so," Daniels said.
Western sanctions have cut Iran's oil exports by more thanhalf to around 1.1 million barrels per day from a pre-2012 levelof 2.5 million bpd, with the loss of oil income making itdifficult to invest in new development and pay for the equipmentand services needed to keep its production operating smoothly.
So when does Iran's energy sector come back into fashionafter years in the cold?
"We need to understand the priorities on the Iranian side,the terms and conditions and then rank those possibilities inour global portfolio but I am not really clear on all of them,"Daniels said.
"It was a high level conversation with the energy ministerwhich talked about wishing to see foreign investment in thesector but really didn't go into much more detail than that."
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Keith Weir)