A Technological Learning Model for Iran's Buy-back Contracts: Case of North Azadegan Field Development

Buy back contracts have been one of the most common upstream contracts in the oil industry. This investment method allows the government to attract foreign capital and technical services and knowledge, while at the same time reducing the cost of foreign trade and increasing export capacity. On the other hand, Learning is one of the most important functions of technological collaboration, to which the success of collaborations will largely depend. This study, is a qualitative study with a case study strategy, attempted to determine the dimensions of learning in buy back contracts  with a case study on the North Azadegan Field Development Contract.  Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document review. Purposeful sampling was used to interview the experts in this project. Data analysis was done by thematic analysis and a qualitative research model was designed by MAXQDA. According to the findings of this study, the technological learning framework has five main themes including contract features, infrastructure, learner characteristics, external peer characteristics, and the nature of knowledge and technology. The findings also indicate that informal and informal factors have a direct and indirect impact on technological learning, and their attention is very important.