Tehran, Iran April 4
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iranian and Indian oil ministers will meet late this week to discuss future cooperation, according to Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia.
The official said that talks on Iran's Farzad-B gas field and sale of oil to India will be top on agenda in the meeting, SHANA news agency reported April 4.
Investment in Iran's petrochemical industry will also be one of the topics, the official further noted.
Pars Oil and Gas Company will be discussing Farzad-B with the Indian side in the upcoming meeting. The field is a rich source of gas and oil condensates situated in southern Iran.
A preliminary contract for the exploration and expansion of the field was signed between Iran and a consortium of three Indian companies in 2000. The Indian sides, however, went no further than the exploration phase.
Zamaninia added that an Indian company is studying a project of carrying gas from Iran via the seabed to India.
On India's oil debts to Iran, he said the Central Bank of Iran is in talks with Indian sides to settle them.
The debts date back to the time when India was no longer able to pay Iran for oil under international sanctions. Indian refiners currently owe $6 billion to Iran.
Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is planned to visit Iran on April 6 for the first trip by an Indian minister since Western sanctions were lifted on the Islamic Republic.
Iranian officials have reportedly said the country hoped to raise its exports to India by 200,000 barrels per day, up from the 260,000 bpd currently shipped under an arrangement reached during years of sanctions.