The PDA was drafted to implement requirements set out in higher-level legislation, including the 2011 law supporting NTNFs and the commercialization of innovations and inventions, the 1398 law on maximizing the use of domestic production and services and supporting Iranian-made goods and its executive bylaws, and the 1401 law on boosting knowledge-based production.

Under this framework, the Oil Ministry’s deputy for engineering, research and technology, led by the General Department for the Technical and Executive System and Project Evaluation, began drafting standardized “first-of-a-kind” manufacturing contracts some time ago. The effort includes three separate documents covering contracts for the development and production of goods, software and services in the oil industry.

The first document in the series, titled the Innovative Product Development Agreement (PDA), was prepared by the General Department for the Technical and Executive System and Project Evaluation with input from a technical and executive working group made up of legal, contractual, financial and technical experts from the main oil companies, the ministry’s legal affairs department and specialists from outside the oil sector.