Baku, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Emil Ilgar – Trend:
Gazprom Neft and OMV Aktiengesellschaft have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop Iran’s oil and gas projects.
“The document, which describes the mutual interest projects in the oil and gas industry, was signed by First Deputy General Director of Gazprom Neft Vadim Yakovlev and OMV Executive Board member responsible for upstream, Johann Pleininger,” OMV’s official website reported June 2.
The agreement outlines the general interest of both companies to work together in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Preliminary possible spheres of cooperation include analysis, assessment and study of certain oil deposits located in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).”
“The Middle East is one of the priority regions in the long-term development strategy of Gazprom Neft,” said Vadim Yakovlev, first deputy general director of Gazprom Neft. “Our company is developing a large project on the Badra field in Iraq, continuing geological exploration in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of this country and it is studying the possibility of participating in the development of two blocks in Iran. According to the extensive experience of OMV in the Middle East and in Iran, joint geological assessment of blocks will be most effective.”
Johann Pleininger, OMV Executive Board member responsible for upstream, also said, “Russia is developing as OMV’s new core area in the upstream business and we can look back on a long-lasting partnership with the country and with Russian oil and gas companies. It fits into our upstream strategy to link the activities and partnerships in Russia with possible new opportunities for OMV in the Middle East.”
Gazprom Neft has the following two MoUs with Iran:
|
Oil field |
Oil in-situ (billion barrels) |
Current production (thousand b/d) |
API |
|
Cheshmeh Khosh |
3.74 |
72 |
20-29 |
|
Changouleh |
2.367 |
0 |
24 |
OMV also has a memorandum with Iran to study Cheshmeh Khosh in the Zagros block, located in western Iran, as well as the Fars field in the south.