Tehran, Iran, May 7
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
After closing National Iranian Oil Company's office in Bolivia, Iran closed its second oil office in South America.
Mohammad Javad Shams said that Iran's Petropars Company has officially canceled its oil agreement with Venezuela's PDVSA Company, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on May 7.
"Petropars wanted to start its activities there, but the Venezuelan company asked for several new conditions," the company's managing director explained. "Finally we decided to close our office in Venezuela."
Petropars was supposed to carry out offshore projects at Venezuela's Dobokubi field.
"From now on Petropars Company will put it focus on developments of Phases 12 and 19 of South Pars gas field," Shams added.
Mehr News Agency reported on April 7 that National Iranian Oil Company officially closed its office in Bolivia. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh issued the order.
NIOC had opened the office in Santa Cruz four years ago to boost Iran's technical and engineering services' exports to South American countries.
The managing director of NIOC, Roknoddin Javadi, said that the company will gradually close its offices across Latin America as well in near future. He went on to note that keeping open the offices are not economically justified, adding that the offices only served political purposes.
"NIOC should only follow economic approaches, and not political ones," he noted.
NIOC has signed several oil contracts and agreements with the South and Central American countries such as Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, and Nicaragua.