Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
An Indian delegation headed by Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Tehran to discuss cooperation in the fields of oil and gas.
The Indian delegation met with Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh May 16 and negotiated obstacles to boosting mutual cooperation in oil and gas sector, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia said, the oil ministry’s SHANA news agency reported.
Indian state-run company ONGC’s proposal on development of Iran’s Farzad B gas field was the main negotiated topic, according to the report.
The two parties discussed the financial investment model for development of the gas field, which is the main source of disagreement between Iran and India.
Zamaninia said the two sides are determined to conclude the talks.
New ideas were voiced at today’s meeting, he said, adding that the two sides agreed to hold more talks to discuss the possible solutions.
Zamaninia further said that oil debts of some private Indian refineries as well as alternative ways to deliver natural gas from Iran to India were also discussed during the meeting.
In 2008, a consortium of OVL (ONGC Videsh Ltd.), Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. discovered the Farzad B gas field, 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 its sanctions against Iran under the nuclear agreement, OVL proposed a $3 billion field development plan to Iran to develop Farzad B.