Iran plans: StatoilHydro is considering asking the families of ex-pat workers in Iran to leave the country
StatoilHydro weighs up Iran move
Norwegian giant StatoilHydro is considering pulling the families of its foreign workers out of Iran as security concerns grow following Friday's disputed presidential elections.
StatoilHydro, which has a stake in the giant South Pars gas development, has 120 workers in Iran. About half are foreigners.
"We are very likely to ask the families of ex-pats to leave Iran ... The object is safety and nothing else," StatoilHydro spokesman Kai Nielsen told Reuters.
"We are following the situation very closely," he said, adding that for the time being there were no plans to ask staff to leave.
Nielsen said StatoilHydro had already shut its Tehran office because of street protests.
The company's Iranian head office is in Tehran, while it has offices closer to the South Pars site in the south of the country.
A company spokesman said the families of a number of its ex-pat employees live in Tehran.