​The Iranian Oil Ministry has named eight domestic companies as eligible counterparts for foreigners’ energy partners, including Industrial Projects Management of Iran (IPMI), an IDRO affiliate. According to Mohammadreza Moghadam, the deputy Iranian oil minister for research and technology affairs, the plan is in compliance with a bill ratified by the administration, aiming to help technological localization and ownership. Only were those companies included which had met technical requirements in exploration and production sectors. The companies, selected from among a pool of 37 applicants, include Petropars Company, Mapna Group, Iran Energy Market Oil Industries' Engineering and Construction (OIEC), Dana Energy Company, Petroiran Development Company, Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters (KAA), Industrial Projects Management of Iran (IPMI), an affiliate of Iran Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), and Persia Oil and gas Development Company.Moghadam further noted the companies named, top ones in the country’s oil industry, can enter into partnership with qualified foreign companies to participate in development plans envisaged for the oil sector.  He also stipulated that the Iranian companies are only permissible for exploration and development activities and this is different from equipment manufacturing or Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) and Oil Services Company (OSC) initiatives.