Oil services company Petrofac will reopen its office in Iran, its chief executive said, as the lifting of Western sanctions allows foreign companies to rekindle business ties with Tehran.

"We are keen to go back. We are opening our office in Tehran again," Petrofac chief executive Ayman Asfari told analysts on Wednesday.

He said Petrofac was probably going to bid for oil services contracts though large oil companies once they have obtained new business, meaning the amount of work it does in Iran would remain low in the next year or two.

"But three or four years down the road it will be an important market for us," he said.

Petrofac was in Iran before sanctions were imposed and it worked directly for the National Iranian Oil Company on a number of projects.

Iran has the world's fourth-largest proved reserves of crude oil and expects to increase production quickly. - Reuters