Reza Qorbani said action has already been taken in some of these areas, with memorandums of understanding and preliminary talks underway with knowledge-based companies.

He said that under a cooperation framework between the fund and the Oil Industry Technology and Innovation Park, a list of completed support measures and active companies in these fields could be shared with the park, enabling introductions between companies and paving the way for new partnerships and targeted support for technologies the oil industry needs.

Need to Revisit Well-Revival Support Model

Referring to prior cooperation on technologies for reviving low-yield wells, Qorbani said multiple meetings were held in the Iranian year 1403 (2024-25), following the change in administration, aimed at establishing a coherent framework for implementing the initiative.

He said the fund's mission is technology development, and economic profitability alone is not its main criterion — though projects must still be economically justifiable. As a result, efforts were made to revise the cooperation model so that large companies would also have an incentive to participate.

He recalled that one proposed model would have small companies enter the well-services supply chain after proving their technology through a pilot, or have their technology purchased by larger companies to commercialize the know-how.

Referring to an implementation memorandum among the National Iranian Oil Co., the Oil Industry Technology and Innovation Park, and the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, Qorbani said the park was set to sign contracts with knowledge-based companies, with those contracts then referred to the fund for review and financing.

Building a Continuous Pipeline for Commercialization

Qorbani said the fund is now considering relaunching the initiative under a more professional framework aligned with technology-commercialization principles, alongside efforts to build a sustainable ecosystem for the low-yield well revival project.

He said the goal is to establish a continuous pipeline so new technologies keep entering the oil industry and ultimately reach the commercialization stage.

He added that technology failure is part of the investment and development process and must be an accepted possibility, but ongoing coordination between the fund and the park is needed to ensure real-time technical evaluation and project monitoring.

Qorbani said that if technical assessments during a project show that a given technology isn't delivering results, timely decisions must be made to avoid continued spending on it.

Tapping Venture Capital Firms for Financing

He said the fund is ready to draw on the capacity of research and technology funds and corporate venture capital (CVC) firms, noting that the fund has not built out an administrative structure or branch offices, instead relying on provincial research and technology funds and CVCs as financing tools rather than creating parallel structures.

Qorbani said the fund is ready to work with the Oil Industry Research and Technology Fund or any other fund the technology park deems suitable, using tools such as loans, guarantee-fee support, reinsurance guarantees and direct investment.

He said that rather than companies seeking financing individually and sporadically, projects could be funded in a targeted, structured program to increase their impact and outcomes nationwide.

Investment Portfolios to Spread Risk

Qorbani also identified building investment portfolios of several companies or technology projects as a model worth considering, saying that once companies with clear technical capability and market potential are identified, several could be grouped into a single portfolio, with multiple CVCs jointly providing the needed financing.

He said this model could help distribute risk, target resources more effectively and improve financing prospects for technology projects in the oil industry.