News   /   Energy

Iran awards ‘historic’ oil contracts to domestic companies

Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Oil Minister Javad Owji watching over as CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr signs a contract with CEO of Dasht Azadegan Arvand consortium Hossein Zanganeh for development of the southwestern Azadegan oilfield on March 17, 2024 in Tehran. (Photo by Shana.ir)

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has awarded contracts worth some $13 billion to domestic companies in what the Oil Ministry has described as a “historic” development because the contracts have been unprecedented in the Iranian oil industry in the past decade.

Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, Oil Minister Javad Owji and NIOC's CEO Mohsen Khojasteh Mehr attended a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday to sign the contracts for development of six oilfields in south and west of Iran.

The largest of the four contracts, worth $11.5 billion, signed was dedicated to the development of Azadegan oilfield, a 1,500-square kilometer reserve along the Iranian border with Iraq located some 80 kilometers to the west and southwest of the city of Ahvaz, the capital of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Oil Ministry’s Shana news service said the contract for development of Azadegan had been awarded to Dasht Azadegan Arvand, a consortium of nine domestic companies for a period of 20 years and for a total output of 2.558 billion barrels of oil.

Azadegan is shared between Iran and Iraq and is believed to be the 10th largest oilfield in the world with some 32 billion barrels of oil. The oilfield is known as Majnoon in Iraq where international oil giants have won various contracts to develop the Arab country’s section of the oilfield.

The NIOC also awarded a 20-year contract worth $1.036 billion to Sarvak Azar Engineering & Development Company to develop the second phase of Azar oilfield, located along Iran’s western border in Ilam province and connected to Iraq’s Badra oilfield.

Two Iranian companies won a $245-million contract to develop Soumar, Saman and Delavaran oilfields in western Iran while the Energy Gostar Sina was awarded a $260-million contract to develop Masjed Soleyman oilfield, the first oilfield discovered and developed in the Middle East in the early 1900s.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku