A historic $40 billion deal was signed between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Gazprom of Russia for joint investment in oil and gas projects.
NIOC’s chief Mohsen Khojastehmehr and Gazprom’s deputy chairman Vitaly Markelov signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two state companies using a video conference link on Tuesday, according to a report by the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service Shana.
The agreement was reached just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to visit Tehran.
According to Shana’s report, the MoU will cover development projects at several Iranian oil and gas fields, including a $10 billion project in the Persian Gulf’s Kish and North Pars gas fields, as well as a $15 billion project to boost pressure at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field located on Iran’s maritime border with Qatar.
NIOC and Gazprom will also collaborate on the completion of LNG projects, the construction of gas export pipelines, and swap deals between Iran and Russia involving natural gas and petroleum products, according to the statement.
According to NIOC’s Khojastehmehr, the deal with Gazprom will be the largest foreign investment commitment in the history of the Iranian oil industry, accounting for one-fourth of all investments planned for the Iranian oil sector until 2025.
He said delegations from the NIOC and Gazprom had held meetings in Russia’s Saint Petersburg and in Tehran before the signing of the agreement.
The official, who also serves as an Iranian deputy oil minister, said the two state companies will begin technical and economic talks on the investment deal in the near future.
