Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Representatives from Azerbaijan, France, Oman, and Pakistan have met with National Iranian Gas export Company (NIGC) officials to discuss mutual cooperation in the gas sector, Iran's SHANA news agency reported on Feb. 10.
The meetings were held last week in Tehran, the report said.
Iranian and Azerbaijani officials have talked about developing the offshore Shah Deniz gas field project, of which Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO) owns a 10 percent share.
Reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The contract on the field's development was signed on June 4, 1996. Stakeholders are: BP (operator) and Statoil with 25.5 per cent each, NICO with 10 per cent, Total with 10 per cent, Lukoil with 10 per cent, TPAO with nine per cent and SOCAR with 10 per cent.
Earlier, head of the Tehran chamber of commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq, invited Azerbaijani companies to invest in Iran's oil and gas projects, while addressing a joint business forum of Iran-Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs which was held on Dec. 17 in Baku.
Al-e Eshaq said that some $500 billion was to be invested in Iran's oil and gas projects in the next five years.
Edited by C.N.