Flag day: for Sinopec at Yadavaran
Sinopec to tie up Yadavaran deal
China’s Sinopec is said to be poised to sign a contract which will see it take a 51% stake in Iran’s giant Yadavaran field.
The Shanghai Securities News quoted company sources as saying that the contract, which was originally supposed to be signed in March this year, would be finalised soon.
The Yadavaran project involves development of 3 billion barrels of proven reserves by a consortium which includes India's Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (29%) and the National Iranian Oil Company (20%).
China and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2004 under which Sinopec would develop Yadavaran in exchange for buying 10 million tonnes of Iranian liquefied natural gas per annum for 25 years.
Yadavaran could produce 300,000 barrels per day. Earlier this year, the two sides said agreement was being delayed by differences over a master development plan, with Sinopec wanting to commit itself to only 180,000 bpd as a first step to establishing whether a higher level is possible.