Speaking out: Mohammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian
Tehran sets Yadavaran date
Talks between Iran and China's Sinopec on developing the Yadavaran oilfield will be completed within two months, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad Hosseinian was quoted as saying today.
In October 2004 Sinopec agreed to take the lead in developing Yadavaran and to buy 10 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for 25 years.
But completion of the deal has been subject to protracted negotiations and several delays.
Disagreements over pricing for the deal, which could be worth as much as $100 billion, were behind a previous delay, an industry source said earlier this year.
"The talks will be finalised in less than two months and the contract will be come into effect two months later," Hosseinian was quoted as saying in the daily Hamshahri.
Yadavaran has estimated reserves of about 3 billion barrels and is expected to produce 300,000 barrels per day.
If China does sign a deal, it could draw fire from the US, a Reuters report said. Washington has already penalised Chinese companies for working in Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear arms and funding anti-Israeli militia. Tehran denies the charges.