Tehran, Iran, May 8
By Umid Niayesh, Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
Iran is negotiating with leading international oil companies, which are active in deep-water drilling regarding the joint projects with Azerbaijan's state oil company (SOCAR) in the Caspian Sea, an official with the Iranian oil ministry told Trend.
The final talks will be held by a joint Iranian-Azerbaijani committee, which will be formed soon, Hossein Esmaeili Shahmirzadi, general director for Europe, America and Caspian Sea countries at Iran's Oil Ministry, said.
Referring to the issue of the decision made by Tehran and Baku to establish a joint oil company, the Iranian official said that political will of the two sides is in favour of joint work for development of the agreed blocks in the Caspian Sea.
He added that Tehran and Baku are working on the issue of forming the joint oil company.
Esmaeili further said that Iran has no specific limitation regarding the deep-water drilling, which is needed for the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves in the Caspian Sea.
He added that Iran’s Amir Kabir drilling rig, which is a unique platform, is located in the Caspian Sea and the Azerbaijani side also has some equipment in the area.
Amir Kabir semi-submersible drilling rig (Iran’s largest offshore structure with a weight of 14,700 tons) is capable of drilling in waters with a depth of 1000 meters and also drilling from the sea bottom up to a depth of 6600 meters.
Last Month Tehran held talks with Norway’s Offshore Resource Group AS (ORG) on Sardar-e Jangal oil field and three more blocks in the Caspian Sea.
In the negotiations the Norwegian company presented its proposals on development of the blocks 24, 26 and 29, as well as reconstruction of Amir Kabir rig.
Esmaeili also told Trend that after the recent visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Baku, a new chapter was opened for mutual oil and gas cooperation.
The two parties are working on a cooperation package, the official said, adding that the package include cooperation in various areas including oil, gas and refining.
The practical results will soon be seen in development of oil and gas cooperation between Tehran and Baku.
Last March during a visit of President Rouhani to Azerbaijan, the two countries signed "The Memorandum of Understanding on "Joint Development of Relevant Blocks in the Caspian Sea".
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