Russian Oil Firms in Talks with Iran on Its Oilfields: Novak
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russian oil companies could sign contracts with Iran by March 21 that would allow them to work on Iranian oilfields, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.
Novak also said Iran was ready to supply crude oil to Russia but that would depend on future agreements with the buyers of the oil, Reuters reported.
In September 2017, Russian energy companies Zarubezhneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil submitted plans to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to develop oil fields in Iran.
Zarubezhneft representatives outlined their plans to increase the recovery rate of oil from the Aban and West Paydar fields, Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum announced at the time.
A memorandum of understanding for Zarubezhneft’s study of the two fields which are shared with Iraq was signed on July 22, 2016.
The Russian company signed another MoU with the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) in July in 2017 to conduct technical studies on the Shadegan and Rag Sefid fields.
Rag Sefid was discovered in 1964 and is estimated to hold 16.5 billion barrels of reserves. Production from Shadegan near Ahvaz, southwestern province of Khuzestan, started in 1988 and the field is currently producing 70,000 barrels of oil a day.
