The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and France’s oil giant Total will ink a confidentiality agreement on development of Iran’s South Azadegan oilfield in the coming days, the Mehr news agency quoted Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying on Monday.



The deal is coming after Total agreed to buy 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude for delivery in Europe.



South Azadegan is one of the five oilfields, dubbed the West Karoun oilfields, Iran shares with Iraq at the western part of Iran’s southwestern region of Karoun.  



Iran discovered Azadegan oil field in 1999 in what was the country’s biggest oil find in decades. The country accordingly teamed up with Inpex to push the project toward development.  However, the Japanese company quit the project in what appeared to be a result of the U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to Press TV.



NIOC later divided the project into South Azadegan and North Azadegan and both were awarded to China’s CNPC.  



In 2014, Iran sidelined CNPC from South Azadegan due to its protracted delays in developing the field.



South Azadegan is believed to hold an in-place oil reserve of about 33.2 billion barrels and its recoverable resources estimated at about 5.2 billion barrels.



Development of joint oil and gas fields is a priority of the Iranian government.  

Iran’s oil minister said the development plan of phase II of North Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields has been handed over to two Chinese companies under an initial contract.

Bijan Zanganeh made the announcement among reporters on Monday following his meeting with Deputy Head of National Energy Administration of China Zhang Yu Ging, in Tehran.

He added that Iran considers China as a strategic partner in the sectors of oil, gas and petrochemical cooperation, and that China is well aware of this fact.

He further said the MDP of phase II of North Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields has been approved by Chinese contractor SINOPEC and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) under an initial contract, adding “Iran is ready to hold multilateral negotiations with Chinese companies within its accepted framework.”

“The Master Development Plan of Yadavaran oilfield has progressed well, but discussions over North Azadegan oilfield are still ongoing,” he said.

Zanganeh maintained that the two sides have also conferred on the sales of crude oil and gas condensates, adding “although China is already importing over 600,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran, this volume can increase given the projects the Chinese companies are currently working on.”

According to the oil minister, gas flare, financial issues and financing Iran’s petrochemical industry were among other topics of discussion with the Chinese side.

“The contract of development of Abadan oil refinery signed with Chinese companies is worth 1.5 million euros,” said Zanganeh, adding “the contract has been recently activated and the rest of it must be financed by the Chinese side.”

India is planning to invest as much as $20bn in oil, petrochemicals and fertiliser projects in Iran in order to import more crude to meet its demand.


Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan made the investment offer to Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh during a two-day visit in Tehran.

Pradhan said that the country is seeking to invest in oil and natural gas, build petrochemical plants and gas-processing facilities and expand ports, by developing new industrial hub of Chabahar, in Southeastern Iran.

The Indian Oil Ministry said in a statement: "Pradhan conveyed to the Iranian side that Indian companies could invest up to $20 billion and were interested in setting up petrochemical and fertilizer plants, including in the Chabahar SEZ, either through joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners."

Pradhan requested Iran to allocate appropriate and adequate land in the Chabahar SEZ as well as supply rich gas at a competitive price to India.

In particular, India plans to increase its oil imports from Iran from the current volume of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Since international sanctions were lifted in January, Iran has been seeking potential foreign investment in a bid to revive its oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

Zangeneh was quoted by Press TV? as saying: "We hope that India's imports of oil from Iran will increase now that the sanctions have been removed."

Iran has also been requested for a long-term basis for planned joint venture projects.

Additionally, the Indian firms are planning to build a gas cracker unit and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) extraction unit in Chabahar.

The two countries also discussed ways of transporting gas through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline to India.

India also discussed the award of rights to Indian firms for the development of Farzad-B gas block, which is estimated to have 21.68 trillion cubic feet of reserves in-place, reported The Hindu?.

Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran is exporting above 2 million barrels of oil and gas condensates a day.

Speaking to Shana on the sidelines of the annual meeting with the ministry’s staff on the occasion of the Iranian New Year (started March 20) on Sunday, he said that completion of the South Pars Gas Field’s development phases is of prime importance to the oil industry’s upstream sector in the current year.

Launching of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery and signing of new petroleum contracts also top the ministry’s upstream projects in the new year, he added.

Iran's oil minister says U.S. companies are welcome to invest in the oil and gas industry
 In this Nov. 17, 2015 file photo, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh listens to a question during a press conference in Tehran, Iran. State-run Press TV quoted Zanganeh Sunday, March 13, 2016, saying that U.S. companies are welcome to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry. The TV report said Zangeneh also asked the German company Siemens executives to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

U.S. companies are welcome to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry, the Iranian oil minister said on Sunday.

State-run Press TV quoted Bijan Namdar Zangeneh as saying that "in general, we have no problem with the presence of American companies in Iran."

He said it is the U.S. government that is "creating restrictions for these companies," without elaborating. Zangeneh also confirmed that Iran's state-run oil company has held talks with General Electric.

"Of course, my deputy conducted these negotiations and when I inquired about them, it was said that the talks were positive," he said.

The TV report said Zangeneh also asked Siemens executives to invest in Iran's oil and gas industry.

"The German company must come to Iran to build equipment and parts needed in our oil industry and manufacture them here," he said.

All sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program were lifted in January under a landmark agreement reached with world powers, but the U.S. maintains separate sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for State Department-designated terrorist groups.

Iran is trying to regain its share of the global petroleum market after the removal of sanctions.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar floated the idea of a production cap last month with the aim of boosting global oil prices, but it was conditional on other producers joining in. Iran, which is eager to jumpstart its oil industry, has so far resisted.

Zangeneh dismissed the idea of a production freeze by Iran as "a joke", according to the TV report. He said Iran will take part in discussions on a possible oil production freeze after its output reaches 4 million barrels per day.

"As long as we have not reached 4 million bpd in production, they should leave us alone," Zangeneh said.

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  Source:   Associated Press