Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Russian giant Rosneft oil company has expressed readiness to invest in the Iranian oil projects.

This was discussed during a meeting of Rosneft Chief Igor Sechin with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on December 8, the Iranian media reported.

Rosneft has already announced readiness for the development of Iranian Changouleh oilfield.

Earlier Ali Abbasi Larki, the development manager of the oilfield, said that besides Rosneft, Russia’s Zarubezhneft and Lukoil, have expressed intention to participate in the Changouleh project.

Currently, Iran is considering these companies’ applications for involvement in this project.

Located in the west of Iran, the untouched-by-drilling Changouleh oilfield is shared with Iraq, and is projected to be developed in two major stages.

Representatives from Rosneft also discussed swap of oil, gas and oil products with Iranian officials in November. The two sides plan to establish a joint committee to continue their negotiations on this issue. If realized, Rosneft will for the first time ever export or swap gas with another country, breaking Gazprom's monopoly.

Iran and Russia, which both found themselves under Western sanctions, are interested in barter deals. Russian companies are keen on participating in the development of oil and gas fields in Iran and projects for increasing Iranian oilfields’ recovery rate.

Prior to the imposition of sanctions, Iran was an active participant in swap operations, which began in 1997 on the basis of signed contracts.

The recent improvement in Iran’s relations with the Western countries and the possibility of soonest removal of the international sanctions on the country has tackled the competition among the energy companies for the vast Iranian market.

Iran sits atop one of the world's largest natural gas reserves of over 33 trillion cubic meters and, in the near future, the country is set to increase its gas processing and transfer capacity to one billion cubic meters per day from the current level of 600 million cubic meters per day.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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