Russia’s state petroleum company Gazprom is expected to finalize deals in the near future to develop six oilfields and two gas fields in Iran, according to an Iranian deputy oil minister.
Ahmad Assadzadeh, who heads the international affairs and trade department of the Iranian Oil Ministry, said that senior Iranian and Russian government officials had agreed in a recent meeting in Moscow to fast-track plans for finalizing petroleum sector cooperation deals.
“The Russian side is preparing a comprehensive development plan for six oilfields and two gas fields in Iran and we hope we could witness the signing of contracts for these oil and gas fields until the end of the year (in late March),” Assadzadeh was quoted as saying by Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.
The comments come three days after Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak met in Moscow to discuss the details of a USD 40bn memorandum of understanding signed in July between Iran’s state oil company the NIOC and Gazprom.
Owji said after the meeting with Novak that Iran had proposed some “attractive” forms of contracts, including offtake contracts, to Russian companies to encourage them to invest in Iranian oil and gas projects in Iran.