Dynamic Reservoir and Stochastic Oil Pricing Model of IPC Contracts: Optimizing and Sensitivity Analyzing

Iran's oil reservoirs are operated in cooperation with international oil companies under a contract titled Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC). During the life of the concluded contracts, Iran and oil companies seek to maximize the economic value as well as the value of the cash flow. In this paper, IPC was modeled and the sensitivity of parameters was illustrated.

Contract financial flow was mathematically modeled considerin the physical characteristics of the oil well. This model was simulated using Matlab to evaluate the effect of different values of two parameters of production rate and wages in IPC contracts on the field production process.

Results show that contractors were inclined to lower production rates if the fee per barrel is not set in the proper range (3$-7$). Furthermore, for very low oil prices (under 30$) contractor is at the risk of investment and for higher prices contractor’s share saturates.

All the parameters of the problem including contractual, reservoir, field parameters, oil price, investment costs, and operating costs play a role in the profitability of the project, and knowing contract parameters sensitivity can give Iran a clear view of negotiating the contract.