Gazprom seeking to assist in developing Iranian gas reserves

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Russia’s energy company Gazprom announced that it eyes potential for working alongside its Iranian counterparts to help develop Iran's gas reserves.

Tehran has recently hosted the first meeting of a joint coordinating committee between Gazprom and the National Iranian Gas Company.

Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev and Vitaly Markelov, the deputy chairmen of the management committee of Gazprom, discussed engineering, implementation, operation, trade, and research issues with the Iranian officials, the Iranian media reported.

Gazprom said the sides discussed a wide range of opportunities, from gas storage to transmission systems.

Russia’s gas giant noted that Iran’s new format of oil sector contracts has provided a new vision of the country’s energy investment prospects.

Iran has recently unveiled new oil and gas contracts called IPC (Iran Petroleum Contract), which offers exploration, development, and production at oil and gas fields in an integrated package.

The IPC – that was unveiled to investors in Tehran in November – has replaced buyback deals which required the host government to pay the contractor an agreed price for all volumes of hydrocarbons it produced.

Gazprom intends to share its experience in various fields of the gas industry with National Iranian Gas Company.

The NIGC and Gazprom can cooperate and exchange experience in various fields including construction of gas pipelines, gas storage, gas compressor stations and CNG as well as the construction of gas refineries.

Gazprom is interested in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) based on initial agreements between the two companies, Medvedev said, forecasting that the document will be signed in next year.

Gazprom and the NIGC plan to discuss grounds for agreements including engineering, implementation, operations, trade and research, according to Azizollah Ramazani, the NIGC manager for international affairs.

The Islamic Republic possesses the world’s largest proven natural gas reserves, at 34 trillion cubic meters, or 18 percent of the world’s total proven reserves.

The energy-rich Iran has long been eyeing the lifting of sanctions and returning of foreign companies to the country. The foreign companies, such as BP, Total, Lukoil, Gazprom and many other companies are waiting for removal of the U.S. and EU sanctions on the Islamic Republic.