Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a fourth attempt to nominate an oil minister after parliament shunned his three previous candidates on lack of petroleum experience, leaving OPEC's No. 2 producer without an oil chief since August.

Ahmadinejad nominated former deputy oil minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh to the post today. The 60-year-old oil ministry veteran has already acted as interim since Aug. 29. Iran's parliament will vote on his nomination on Dec. 11, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA quoted Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel as saying.

The lack of an oil minister for more than three months has delayed the signature of oil and gas projects, putting Iran's output expansion plans on hold. The Islamic republic has missed its OPEC quota since January and in October, it pumped 7.5 percent less than its quota of 4.11 million barrels -- the biggest deviation since at least December 1999, Bloomberg data show. Oil accounts for 80 percent of Iran's exports.

Obviously his experience in the oil sector gives him a boost, but it may not be enough to secure him a smooth ride to the end,'' Ali Ghezelbash, associate director at Tehran-based Atieh Bahar Consulting, said in a telephone interview.He's not perceived as a very authoritative decision-maker, or as being independent from the president.''

The Tehran Stock Exchange's main index rose 1.5 percent today. It has lost a fifth of its value since Ahmadinejad won the presidential election on June 24, giving the backers of the Islamic revolution full power over state institutions.

Kamal Daneshyar, who heads the Majlis Energy Commission, said last week that no major oil contracts would be signed until a new oil minister is appointed, Iran News reported.

Vaziri-Hamaneh enjoys the ``necessary qualifications for the post regarding his 30-year experience in the oil industry,'' IRNA quoted Daneshyar as saying today.

The three previous nominees put forward by Ahmadinejad had little or no experience in the oil sector. Ahmadinejad, who won the presidential election after pledging to redistribute wealth to Iran's 70 million people, had taken outsiders on purpose to eliminate what he called a ``mafia'' presence in the oil ministry -- a charge denied by former minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

Oil Ministry Career

In contrast, Vaziri-Hamaneh has spent most of his career within Iran's oil ministry. He was deputy oil minister in charge of coordination affairs under Zanganeh, who held the portfolio for the last eight years. Vaziri-Hamaneh was also a board member with the state-run National Iranian Oil Company. He has a master's degree in management and a BS in mechanical engineering, according to the oil ministry Web site.

Vaziri-Hamaneh today said the country may amend contract terms for foreign energy companies as it struggles to boost oil output.

At present, Iran's constitution forbids foreigners rights over its natural resources. Instead, they must agree to finance the development of reserves, hand them over to Iranian control and then recover their investment at an agreed rate of return from subsequent production, so-called buyback agreements.

``We must try (to) find another way'' than buy-backs, Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh told reporters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Tehran today. He declined to elaborate on which model Iran will regulate foreign oil investments in future.

This is probably campaign rhetoric to please all sides,'' Atieh Bahar Consulting's Ghezelbash said.He may try to reform the buyback system to make it more transparent, as promised by the new administration, but I don't see any major change happening because there is a shortage of alternatives to buy- backs.''

Production-sharing agreements and concessions are not allowed under the Islamic Republic's constitution, the consultant said.