Iranian Companies to Replace Indians in Farzad B Gas Field Project

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh says the developmental project of Farzad B Gas Field will be carried out with domestic companies and Indians will have no room in it.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony to sign a contract for completing the development of South Azadegan Oilfield on Monday, Zanganeh said currently no foreign company is ready to sign deal with Iran in any field and they will even not continue the current agreements but the ministry relies on domestic capacities and experts to carry out them..

He went on to say that the deal for developing Farzad B Gas Field will be signed soon while its head of agreement has already been signed and the final deal will be signed very soon.

Asked about the long-term agreement between Iran and China, Zanganeh said, “The discussion is on a general agreement and I can say with confidence that in the field of oil, neither the Chinese have asked us for a concession nor are we giving a concession. The subject is long-term cooperation in various fields, including field development, refining, petrochemicals, etc. We are ready for any other country except the Zionist regime that wants to have such cooperation with Iran. Even American companies are not barred from working as contractors or investors in our projects…. This [the Iran-China deal] will be a friendly and bilateral cooperation. Our current relationship with the Chinese is also good and without any tension.”

He added that under the framework of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation road map, Iran and China will collaborate on the oil sector in the long-run.

Zanganeh added that Iran is ready to sign a similar cooperation road map with all countries.

Referring to the rumors going around the said Iran-China 25-year road map, Zanganeh said after being finalized, the road map must be ratified by the Iranian Parliament.

Regarding the role that international companies can play in the development of Iran’s oil industry, Zanganeh said: “Cooperation with foreign companies is not only important for raising capital; What we are looking for is mainly the absorption of technology to increase the recovery rate of reservoirs, and that interdependence can help expand our market presence, but it is not the case that if they do not work with us, we will die. During these years, we have shown that we carry out our work decisively and do not fall short.”

He added that with a 10% increase in the recovery rate in the South Azadegan joint field, production from this field will increase by 2.7 billion barrels and revenues will exceed $1 trillion.

“We should see the index of activity in joint fields in the West Karun and South Pars. Of course, action has been taken in other joint fields as well, and it will yield results by the end of the current government,” the minister said.

The official also stressed increasing the recovery rate of oil fields.

The minister went on to say that there are 27 billion barrels of oil in place (OIP) in the South Azadegan joint field, but the maximum extraction is less than 1.5 billion barrels.

“We can increase the recovery rate of 6% in this field to 16%,” said the official, highlighting that this means an increase of 2.7 billion barrels of oil production from South Azadegan and will generate over $1 trillion revenue for the country.