By Rania El Gamal and Dmitry Zhdannikov
ABU DHABI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Iran will have to offerlucrative contracts terms to draw back international oilcompanies at a time when the oil industry is more focused onprofitability as it gears up for a longer period of low oilprices, executives said on Tuesday.
Iran said in September it had approved a draft ofinternational oil and gas contracts to attract foreign investorsand oil buyers once international sanctions are lifted but hasnot provided details so far.
The OPEC member will announce new oil and gas contracts atconferences in Tehran and London on Nov. 21-22 and Feb. 22-24respectively.
"It is not only questions of resources or opportunities, itis a question of profits," Total's chief executive PatrickPouyanne told a conference in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UnitedArab Emirates.
"We will be well positioned to look at opportunities in gas,oil, petrochemicals and marketing. But all that is subject togood contractual conditions, so we will see."
Pouyanne said Total was likely to attend the Tehranconference where the oil ministry will reveal the framework ofthe contracts.
Iran said the new ones would be a major improvement not onlyon the so-called buy-back contracts but also on those thatneighbour Iraq offered to foreign oil companies in 2009-2010.
Oil majors have said they would return to Iran if it madebig improvements to the pre-sanction buy-back contracts, whichsome foreign companies complain made them no money or evenincurred losses.
"Today buy-back contracts would not attract anyone for thelack of oil price upside and reservoir upside," Shell'sintegrated gas director Maarten Wetselaar told a news briefing.
"Iraq would today also struggle to get those contractsaway."
Oil companies operating in southern Iraq, such as Shell andTotal, have often complained about the tough terms offered byBaghdad as well as security concerns and infrastructureconstraints.
"At the moment the industry is more constrained in financialresources rather than opportunity-constrained," Wetselaar said,adding that this had been shown by some recent auctions inplaces such as Mexico generating tepid interest.
The sanctions have halved Iran's oil exports to around 1.1million barrels per day from a pre-2012 level of 2.5 millionbpd. The loss of oil income has hampered investment in newdevelopment and the country has struggled to pay for equipmentand services.
Iranian officials say they would be able to raise crudeproduction by 500,000 bpd once sanctions are lifted next year,and another 500,000 bpd few months after that.
But many are sceptical saying Iran would need billions ofdollars in investments and the know-how of foreign companieshelp to boost its production after years of under-investment.
"Iran will probably be able to put in the market 400-500,000bpd but then after it would take time," said Pouyanne. (Editing by David Evans)
