Representative of the French energy giant Total met with head of Irans national oil company (NIOC) to discuss future energy ties under the new oil contract Iran introduced on Saturday. Totals President Middle East and North Africa of Total Exploration and Production Stephane Michel met with NIOCs Roknoddin Javadi on the sidelines of a conference held in Tehran to introduce Iran petroleum contract (IPC). Speaking with Shana, Michel said, "We are here to attend the conference for new IPC. We were working in this country for the time we chat because of the sanctions." He said "We cant do anything before the sanctions are lifted which will hopefully come next year." "In the meantime we are here to listen. Total is a big oil and gas company; we can do oil; we can do gas," he added. He said Total will review the options exactly to see what they can do in Iran. The contract took two years to be devised by the ministry and be endorsed by the Rouhani administration, and the projects introduced under IPC are hoped to meet a part of Irans need for developing its oil and gas industry, said Mehdi Hosseini, head of the conference and the official in charge of devising the new contract terms at Irans Ministry of Petroleum. IPC is replacing buyback deals. Under a buyback deal, the host government agrees to pay the contractor an agreed price for all volumes of hydrocarbons the contractor produces. But under the IPC, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will set up joint ventures for crude oil and gas production with international companies which will be paid with a share of the output. In the wake of nuclear deal reached last July, Iran has been receiving high-ranking officials and corporate executives of major companies including from Germany, Spain, Austria, Italy, and France to discuss new cooperation ventures. Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has said that Iran welcomes foreign investment in its energy industry, but stresses technology transfer by foreign partners in the new contracts.