Azernews.Az

Chinese oil firms can still continue working in Iran despite their weak performance in recent years.

Ali Majedi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs, said performance of Chinese companies in the development of Iranian oilfields was weak compared with European companies, I IRNA news agency reported.

However, they can still be present in Iran's oil market if they meet two demands. First, they should be bound to duration of the projects and implement them according to the schedule. Second, they should improve quality of their works.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a memorandum of understanding with NIOC in 2009, promising to pay 90 percent of development costs for the South Azadegan oilfield while taking ownership of a 70 percent stake. An Iranian official said the project needed investment of up to $2.5 billion, Reuters reported.

In February 2014, Iran issued an ultimatum to CNPC over its continuous delays in developing the oilfield. Then, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said "If this trend continues, we will expel CNPC from the project."

Iraq, which owns the other half the South Azadegan joint oilfield, started producing 175,000 barrels of oil per day at the field in September 2013.

While Iran's production rate stands at 50,000 barrel per day, Baghdad plans to increase its production at the field up to 400,000 barrels per day in the near future.