TEHRAN, May 4 (UPI) -- The Iranian government said it was frustrated with delays from companies in India and pulled a deal for the development of a gas field off Iran's coast.
The semiofficial Fars News Agency reported Saturday a delegation from New Delhi was in Tehran in late April to discuss development of the offshore Farzad-B natural gas field. The press service said the field holds an estimated 13 trillion cubic feet of gas, though has not been pursued seriously by the Indian side since talks began in 2009.
Citing Oil Ministry sources, Fars said an Indian package was turned down because of lingering project delays.
The report blamed international sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector as one of the reasons for the delays. No value of the offer was listed.
India has been mentioned as a terminal point for a gas project from Iran once dubbed the Peace Pipeline. Pakistani officials last month said there was Chinese support for the pipeline, though Washington and regional lenders have put their support behind a rival gas network from Turkmenistan.
India is one of the six nations still allowed to purchase crude oil from Iran under the current sanctions regime and is Iran's second largest crude oil buyer after China. The Indian economy in March took no crude oil from Iran for the first time in 10 years in order to keep its purchases within sanctioned limits.
Indian refiners in November said that, as multilateral negotiations continue over Iran's nuclear program gain traction, more Iranian crude oil could find its way to the nation's economy.
