The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Russia's Gazprom inked a $40 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) for oil and gas projects and technological cooperation, Iran’s oil ministry's news outlet Shana reported on Tuesday.
Signed during an online ceremony by NIOC CEO Mohsen Khojastehmehr and Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Vitaly Markelov, the deal includes the development of the Kish and North Pars gas fields, pressure enhancement of the South Pars field, development of six oil fields, gas and product swap, completion of LNG projects, construction of gas export pipelines, and other scientific and technological cooperation.
The MoU decision came on the same day that the Russian President visited Iran to hold talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.
Iran was the fifth-largest crude oil producer of the OPEC cartel in 2020 and the third-largest natural gas producer in the world in 2019, according to a country analysis report by US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The country also holds some of the world’s largest deposits of proved oil and natural gas reserves, ranking as the world’s third-largest and second-largest reserve holder of oil and natural gas, respectively, in 2020.
At the end of 2020, Iran accounted for 25% of oil reserves in the Middle East and 12% in the world.
Despite its abundant reserves, Iran’s crude oil production has fallen since 2017 because the oil sector has been subject to underinvestment and international sanctions for several years.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr