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Iran and India further talks on oil and gas cooperation, Farzad B Gas field
India and Iran carried forward talks on the contentious Farzad B Gas field row with a high-profile delegation from India, headed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met with Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran on Tuesday to further discussions on oil and gas cooperation.
Iran is headed for its first round of presidential elections today and the current President Hassan Rouhani has been trying to attract investor interest in various sectors including oil and gas.
The Iranian government has been working on a new framework called the Iran Petroleum Contract that would permit foreign investors to form joint ventures lasting up to 25 years.
According to a report by Iran’s news agency SHANA, development of Iran’s Farzad B gas field by India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and its financing model were discussed in the meeting between the Indian and Iranian delegation.
“Senior officials from the both countries are firmly determined to finalize talks on development of Farzad B Gas Field by OVL,” SHANA quoted Amir Hossein Zamani-nia, deputy petroleum minister in international affairs and trading, as saying after the meeting.
The high level delegation discussed development of the Farzad B gas field in the meeting and it was decided that OVL officials will meet with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) managing director Ali Kardor and his assistant Gholamreza Manouchehri to resolve the various issues on the project. Other highlights of the meeting included working out methods for sending Iran’s natural gas to India.
Farzad B gas field was discovered by OVL in the Farsi block about 10 years ago. The project has so far cost the OVL-led consortium, which also includes Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp (IOC), over $80 million.
Iran was initially unhappy with the $10 billion plan submitted by OVL for development of the 12.5 trillion cubic feet reserves in Farzad-B field and an accompanying plant to liquefy the gas for transportation in ships.
The field in the Farsi block has an in-place gas reserve of 21.7 tcf, of which 12.5 tcf are recoverable. Eric Fehr Authentic Jersey
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