Russia’s Gazpromneft to participate in development of Iranian oil field

Russian Gazpromneft hopes to retain the Iranian Azar oil field, RusEnergy reported.

At the end of August 2011 it was reported that Iran had refused to cooperate with Gazpromneft on the development project of the Iranian oil field Azar.

The Iranian side named as one of the reasons the delay in completion of the project. The representative of the Iranian Ministry of Oil, Hamid Karimi said that Iranian oil companies will be involved in the project Azar instead of the Russian company.

Russia said its gas firm Gazprom might take part in developing an Iranian oil field, state television reported on Monday.

“We have reached an agreement with the Iranian oil minister to clear within the next month whether or not Gazprom will take part in developing Azar field,” Russia’s Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told a news conference in Bushehr.

Iranian officials announced in August that Gazprom had been excluded from the project after it missed several ultimatums.

The Russian energy giant had not signed a contract to develop the on-shore field on the border with Iraq, but Iranian media reported in March 2010 that it was about to do so.

The move is likely to anger the United States which has led efforts to isolate Iran over its civil nuclear program.