Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 12
By Umid Niayesh- Trend:
Representatives from Russian Rosneft company discussed oil, gas and oil products swap with Iranian oil ministry officials, the ministry's official SHANA news agency reported.
The Russian delegation arrived in Tehran Nov. 11.
The two parties plan to form a joint committee to continue their negotiations on the issue. This if first time Rosneft is going to export or swap gas with another country, breaking Gazprom's monopoly.
Gazprom is the solo Russian gas exporter, while the country's largest oil producer Rosneft has asked the government to end Gazprom's decade-long exclusive right to export pipeline gas in July.
Early in November Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the Islamic Republic's deputy oil minister announced that a Russian company will visit Tehran to discuss swap issue, without mentioning the company at the time.
Russian firms are keen to participate in developing oil and gas fields in Iran and projects for increasing Iranian oilfields' recovery rate, Zamaninia said.
The issue of oil and gas swap was discussed during the visit of Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to Tehran several months ago, Zamaninia said, adding the two parties emphasized concluding contracts on the issue.
Prior to the introduction of sanctions, Iran was an active participant in swap operations, which began in 1997 on the basis of signed contracts.
Novak said earlier that Russia can deliver gas to Iran's northern regions and receive Iranian LNG in the Gulf. Iran has an LNG plant, which is only 50-percent developed and is projected to become operational by 2019.
