Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran and India have ended differences over development of Farzad B gas field, Mehr news agency reported Aug. 18.
An Indian delegation visited Tehran this week to discuss the financial investment model for development of the gas field.
The two sides reached the agreement after a meeting of the National Iranian Oil Company officials with the New Delhi-based ONGC representatives in Tehran yesterday, Ali Akbar Shabanpour, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, said.
During the meeting the Indian side’s financial investment model was studied by the two parties’ experts, he said, adding the final document will be signed within 45 days.
The expert teams from both sides will study the issues within the next 45 days, he said, forecasting that an HOA (heads of agreement) will be signed by the end of September.
HOA is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a tentative (partnership or other) agreement.
In 2008, a consortium of OVL (ONGC Videsh Ltd.), Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. discovered the Farzad B gas field in the Farsi block, which is estimated to contain 12.8 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves.
In August 2010, OVL submitted a revised master development plan (MDP) for producing 60 percent of the field's in-place gas reserves, but did not sign a contract with the Iranian side out of fear it would be exposed to sanctions imposed by the US on Iran's energy sector, which did not allow foreign companies to invest more than $20 million a year in the country's energy sector.
After the West lifted sanctions against Iran under the nuclear agreement, OVL proposed a $3 billion field development plan to Iran to develop Farzad B.