Tatneft to develop oil field in western Iran in cooperation with NIOC
An agreement between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Tatneft was signed on 8 October in Tehran, reports Tasnim News Agency. The Tatar company had already acted as a partner of Iran before the western sanctions were imposed. Now the cooperation concerns developmental studies in Dehloran oil field.
The Iranian oil industry keeps recovering from the recession caused by western sanctions. The agency's source claims that the agreement with Tatneft is the third contract between Russian and Iranian oil enterprises in Iran's post-sanction era. Earlier NIOC sealed deals with Lukoil and Zarubezhneft.
The MoU was signed by the managing director of NIOC Ali Kardor and Tatneft's Director General Nail Maganov. 'As a result of the meetings held between the two companies earlier, a memorandum was signed. I hope that we will manage to make the follow-up steps in a more serious direction,' Kardor said following the signing ceremony. He added that there is also a chance for Tatneft to cooperate with Iranian companies and produce various types of equipment.
The agreement covers feasibility studies on development of Dehloran oil field in western Iran. The field is located 22 km south-west of Dehloran city in Iran's Ilam province. It is supposed to contain about five billion barrels of oil. The field's development project includes existing well's workover, drilling new wells, desalination and construction of a production unit and a new residential camp.
The sanctions were imposed after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. They seriously affected the country's economics including oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. The bans were lifted at the beginning of 2016 when Iran and the UN Security Council finally reached an agreement. Iran is obliged to limit its nuclear programme for at least 10 years.