New Delhi cautious over Iranian energy

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NEW DELHI, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- An Indian energy company said it wasn't ready to give up on developing a natural gas field in Iranian waters but wanted assurances from Tehran.

ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas division of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp., is seeking a greater return on its plans to invest as much as $6 billion on the development of the Farzad-B natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.

Sources inside the company want more assurances from Tehran in the face of Western sanctions targeting the Iranian energy sector, the Press Trust of India reports.

The company said the field could hold as much as 12.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. U.S. sanctions target companies investing more than $20 million in the Iranian energy sector. Western governments suspect Iran is financing its controversial nuclear program with money from oil and natural gas.

European sanctions on the Iranian energy sector include action that targets insurance to tanker carrying crude oil from the Islamic republic.

An Indian shipping company in early August said it would offer state insurance to tankers carrying Iranian crude oil in an effort to continue deliveries, however.