Iran offers Russia several oil & gas fields for development - Novak
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Iran has offered Russia the opportunity to participate in the development of several oil and gas fields in the country, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.
"Iran has given Russian companies an offer on several fields in which they could take part," he said.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission, the two countries discussed changes to Iranian law that permit Russian companies to own stakes in these projects.
Novak did not provide the names of the projects in which Russia might take part. Among the Russian companies interested in operating in Iran, he identified Zarubezhneft. Among the projects are ones on Iran's borders.
Russia and Iran have agreed to set up a working group for the resolution of issues involved in optimizing mutual settlements between Russian and Iranian companies, Novak said. "One of the main problems of our mutual relations is the system for mutual settlements, that is, the problem of financial-economic mutual relations concerning the banking sector. We have created a working group for improving mutual settlements in both currencies," he said. This approach will improve things and make it more attractive for Russian companies to operate in Iran, he said.
Another avenue of oil and gas cooperation between the two countries is supplying Russian-made equipment necessary for the development of oil and gas deposits, the minister said. "Another possible direction is the delivery of equipment for the development of oil and gas deposits, including pumping equipment, and Russian companies are for their part prepared to do this," he said.
After the commission meeting, it was reported that Iran does settlements in Chinese yuan and Indian rupees. At present, there are only several small Russian banks operating in the country.
The Energy Ministry press service also said that at this time Russian oil companies can operate in Iran as service companies, which is not economically profitable.
After the United States did so, the European Union imposed an oil embargo on Iran, as well as sanctions on a number of private individuals, various companies, the country's central bank, and national banks.
Zarubezhneft has signed a memorandum with Iran that provides an opportunity for taking part in geological surveying in the country. After the imposition of the EU oil embargo, Nikolai Brunich - who headed the company at the time - said Zarubezhneft was prepared to operate in Iran on conditions of Russian government approval and the receipt of security guarantees.
Gazprom Neft is also interested in working in Iran. But in the fall of 2011, Teheran criticized the company for delaying the process of developing the Azar deposit and then kicked the company out of the project, replacing it with a consortium of Iranian companies. Gazprom Neft said that it was not prepared to work on the Azar product on the terms offered by Iran, but remained interested in the country. Gazprom Neft's main shareholder is Gazprom , which always takes a very cautious approach to the acquisition of risky assets and to operating in countries that could be affected by international sanctions.
