ANKARA
Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz has hailed the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers group, P5+1, reached in the Austrian capital of Vienna, terming the agreement a positive development for the region.
"Removal of sanctions on Iran is significant for investments in the country as well as oil prices," Yildiz said Tuesday.
Noting that Iran has rich oil and natural gas, the energy minister said that supplying these resources to the region and the world would have important consequences for oil prices.
The price of the global benchmark Brent crude oil fell around $1.5 per barrel on Tuesday after the nuclear deal was reached between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
Iran reportedly has around 35 million barrels of crude and condensate oil stored offshore, which if released into international markets would increase the glut of global supply and put a downward pressure on oil prices.
Since Turkey is an oil importing country, low oil prices benefits its economy and current account deficit.
Turkey also imports around 6.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran on average every year.
According to the global credit organization Fitch Ratings, Iran has 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, around 18 percent of the world's total reserves. The country has the third-largest natural gas reserves in the world.
In addition, Iran aims to attract foreign investment into its energy sector to boost its oil production and exports.
Due to the sanctions, many international oil companies were forced to leave Iran in the last decade.
Meanwhile, Iran plans to introduce a new oil contract model, called the Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC), which is planned to be announced on September in London.
