Tehran, Iran, May 6
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran has no plan to expel the Chinese contractor of North Azadegan field.
Iran's deputy oil minister Ali Majedi said that considering the volume of work that has been done in the project, the oil ministry doesn't plan to change the field's contractor, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on May 6.
"The oil ministry has issued a warning to the contractor to increase the speed of development plan" the deputy oil minister added.
The managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), Abdolreza Haji Hosseinnejad, said on May 3 that Iran will take action against delays in development of its joint oil and gas fields based on the signed contracts.
"Besides taking legal action against the contractors, we will not sign any other contact with them," he explained, adding that the contractor of North Azedgan field has requested for some extra time to develop the field as soon as possible.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh previously ordered the ministry officials to officially expel China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) from South Azadegan oilfield's development project.
On February 18, Iran issued an ultimatum to CNPC over its continuous delays in developing the South Azadegan oilfield.
CNPC had been awarded with developing North Pars oilfield, Yadavaran joint oilfield, North and South Azadegan fields, and the phase 11 of the South Pars gas field. Due to its repeated delays, the company has been expelled from the South Pars and the North Pars projects, and they are on the verge of being expelled from the South Azadegan project.
The oilfield is projected to produce 320,000 barrels of oil per day.
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