TEHRAN, April 24 (UPI) -- The Iranian government and Russian energy giant Gazprom have reached an agreement on oil and gas cooperation, the National Iranian Oil Co. said.
"Iran and Gazprom have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the development of oil and gas fields, as well as investment and exploratory studies," said NIOC Managing Director Seifollah Jashnsaz.
Jashnsaz said the two parties were continuing negotiations and would soon reach a final agreement and sign a contract, the Tehran Times reported. Iranian Petroleum Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said he hoped negotiations with Gazprom would be done soon.
The agreement includes development of several sites at the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf and the North Azadegan oil deposit in southern Iran.
Gazprom has been participating in the development of the South Pars field's second and third stages together with France's TotalElf and Malaysia's Petronas. The facility is reportedly able to produce and process about 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
