Only two days after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries announced in the Swiss city of Lausanne that they had found solutions for a final comprehensive agreement over Iran�s nuclear energy program, officials in Tehran say international companies have already voiced interest to take up projects in the country�s oil industry.� ��

Iran�s Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs Hossein Zamani-Niya said on Saturday that the country�s Ministry of Petroleum has received investment proposals from �a certain number of companies as well as countries�.� He added that those proposals are currently being studied.

Over a week of talks between top diplomats of Iran and the P5+1 in Lausanne culminated in a joint statement in which the sides said they had reached understanding over solutions to move ahead toward drafting a comprehensive nuclear agreement before 30 June.� A key point of Lausanne statement was a promise to lift a series of economic sanctions on Iran � including those on the country�s oil industry.

Zamani-Niya emphasized that the Ministry of Petroleum and its subsidiary companies are ready to intensify their activities as soon as the sanctions on Iran�s oil sector are removed.

He said Iran�s oil industry is eager to work in �a new international environment� adding that other countries appear to be already prepared to embrace the opportunity to cooperate with Iran.

Most of Iran�s oil-related sanctions have been imposed by the United States and the European Union. The most significant ones are those that prohibit any investment by foreign companies in Iran�s oil projects and also put a ceiling on Iran�s oil production.

Iran�s current oil production is estimated to be around 2.7 million barrels per day of which about 1 million barrels are exported � as required by the current regime of sanctions.

Zamani-Niya further emphasized that Iran�s Ministry of Petroleum wants to regain its lost production share in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) once the sanctions on the country�s oil industry are removed in light of an emerging final comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and P5+1.

�Once the [final] Iran-P5+1 nuclear agreement is finalized, Iran is prepared to regain its lost OPEC production share within a short period of time in cooperation with other members of the Organization,� he told Iran�s Shana news agency.

Zamani-Niya further emphasized that the priority for Iran will be to first increase its oil production at the earliest time possible.� �To achieve this, we will have to focus our efforts on sales, investment and technology,� he said.

Iran was once OPEC�s second top producer after heavyweight Saudi Arabia. However, the drop in its oil output � that the country blames on sanctions � has now put it well behind Iraq.

Iran�s Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in mid-March that his team had serious plans to bring the country�s oil production to 3.8 million �within a few months after the removal of the sanctions�.

By Press TV