Talking to IRNA on Monday, he said given the fact that oil contracts would not bear fruit overnight and require months of expert talks and technological work to commence, it will take quite a long time before ties with foreign oil companies are back to normal.
Commenting on the latest negotiations with foreign oil companies, he said there have been several instances, including the one with German firms, during the recent visit of a high-ranking German delegation to Iran.
He added that economic conditions in the country were gradually returning to normal so it is quite natural for foreign countries to seek involvement in Iranian oil projects.
He noted that Iranian oil companies froze ties with foreign countries for a long time during the years of sanctions so they now need time to normalize international relations.
Iran has already outlined plans to rebuild its main industries and trade relationships following a nuclear agreement with world powers, saying it was targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.
Iran's Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Mohammadreza Nematzadeh said the Islamic Republic would focus on oil and gas, metals and car industries with an eye to exporting to Europe after the sanctions are lifted, rather than simply importing Western technology, Reuters reported.
Many European companies have already shown interest in reestablishing business ties with Iran, with Germany sending Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel on the first top level government visit to Tehran in 13 years at the head of a delegation of leading business figures.
Zamani-Nia had said that Tehran had identified nearly 50 oil and gas projects worth $185 billion that it hoped to sign by 2020.
OPEC-member Iran has the world's largest gas reserves and is the fourth on the global list of top oil reserves holders.
In preparation for negotiations with possible foreign partners, Zamani-Nia said Iran had defined a new model contract which it calls integrated petroleum contract (IPC).
"This model contract addresses some of the deficiencies of the previous buyback contract and it further aligns the short-and long-term interests of the parties involved," he said.
He said the deals would last 20-25 years — much longer than the previously less popular buybacks, which effectively were fee paying deals with global oil majors such as France's Total for services they performed on Iranian oilfields.
He said Iran would announce the projects it has identified and the new contract model within 2-3 months.