Eni, NIOC sign MoU, Total set for South Pars
Iran
TEHRAN, June 20, 2017 – Eni signed a deal with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Tuesday under which the super-major will conduct appraisal studies of Iran’s Kish and Darquain fields.
NIOC head Ali Kardor said Eni will also seek partners for the project, either Iranian or international.
Shana, the news portal of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, reported that NIOC has to date signed 75 “similar documents,” and has studies in hand for 22 projects.
Iran’s second-largest gasfield, Kish has also attracted interest from Shell, which signed an MoU for the development of the offshore field in December. Earlier this month, Gazprom inked an agreement on development of the field.
Darquain, commonly spelled Darkhovin, is an onshore oilfield that has previously seen development work from Eni. Tuesday’s MoU concerns phase three of its development, which Iran’s Ghadir Investment Company and the Philippines National Oil Company’s exploration offshoot, PNOC EP, have also signed on to study.
Momentum builds for South Pars deal
Also on Tuesday, Reuters quoted Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne as saying the company would “go ahead” with its planned investment in phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars gasfield.
The report followed a similar statement over the weekend from Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, who said the deal would be concluded within weeks.
Pouyanne said the company would make an initial USD 1 billion of investment in the project, wary of US threats to cancel sanctions waivers stipulated under the 2015 nuclear deal.
“It is worth taking the risk at $1 billion because it opens a huge market. We are perfectly conscious of some risks. We have taken into account [sanctions] snap-backs, we have to take into account regulation changes,” the CEO said.
Azadegan delayed
Another much anticipated field development in Iran, Azadegan, saw a setback on Tuesday as Kardor was quoted as saying the oilfield’s tender would be delayed by months.
Kardor told local media the tender was postponed to give companies more time to study the field. Total, Malaysia’s Petronas and Japan’s Inpex have all signed on to study the field, Iran’s largest oil play.
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