Baku, Azerbaijan, May 7
Trend:
Austria-based OMV, a leading international oil and gas company is interested in investment opportunities in Iran, Kurt Wagner, OMV General Manager in Iran, said.
The company is negotiating with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Wagner said, IRIB news agency reported May 7.
He said that the Islamic Republic is one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves’ holders, adding that the company has already signed an MoU with Iran for development of Band-e-Karkheh oil field.
OMV entered Iran in 2001 as the operator of the Mehr exploration block in western Iran, leading to discovery of Band-e-Karkheh in 2005. The company left Iran as international sanctions were tightened against the Islamic Republic. As a result, all development activities that it had to carry out on Band-e-Karkheh were halted.
Band-e-Karkheh is located 20 kilometers northwest of Ahwaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan. The field is 35 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, and is estimated to hold more than 4.5 billion barrels of crude oil in place with an API gravity of 24. The field is forecast to have a production capacity of 7,500 bpd of crude oil.