Baku, Azerbaijan, June 18
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's Oil Ministry has annulled some contracts which were signed by former oil minister Rostam Qasemi.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has cancelled the development of all non-associated oil and gas fields, except for those which have started production, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on June 18.
National Iranian Oil Company has confirmed that the development of Zagheh, Kooh Kaki, Booshgan, Darkhovin, and Karkheh oilfields has been halted.
Contract for the development of Zagheh had been signed with Russia's Tatneft Oil Company. Contracts for the development of Kaki and Booshgan fields had been signed with a Ukrainian company.
Iranian MP Saeed Heidari said that the focus will be placed on developing joint fields.
All the contracts with contractors will be canceled and the Oil Ministry will compensate for their losses, he added.
The neighboring countries have been extracting more crude oil and natural gas than Iran from associated fields, he noted.
Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on Feb. 15 that Tehran has invested over $4.4 billion in its joint fields with Iraq to date.
Developing of joint oilfields which are located at the western side of the Karoun River is among Iran's oil ministry's top priorities.
Once all the mentioned oil fields come on stream over one million barrels per day will be added to the country's oil production capacity.
Over $20 billion is needed to be invested in the development projects of Iran's joint oil fields with Iraq.