Envoy: Russia's Rosneft Welcome in Oil Projects

Iran wants Russia’s energy company Rosneft to participate in oil extraction and refining projects in the country, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said on Tuesday.

"Rosneft is cooperating directly with Iran’s Oil Ministry and the Headquarters [Setad Ejraye Farmane Emam] … The Headquarters has various projects, and Rosneft may invest and participate in them," Sputnik quoted Mehdi Sanaei as saying, specifying that the projects include both oil extraction and its processing.

Rosneft and the Iranian economic structure have achieved good understanding, Sanaei noted, adding that the talks on various proposals are underway.

Another Russian oil and gas company Krasnye Barrikady signed a contract in August worth $1 billion with Iran’s Tasdid Offshore Development Company to build five offshore drilling rigs for exploration and production in Iranian fields in the Persian Gulf, , IRNA reported.

The first rig is slated to be built in two years in the southern city of Khorramshahr in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan. The Russian firm will finance 85% of the project.

  Oil Market Collaboration

According to the ambassador, Tehran and Moscow are in consultations on the steps to be taken to cut crude oil production to stabilize the global oil market.

"Consultations between Iran and Russia on this issue are ongoing. The [Iranian and Russian] ministers, who met in Algeria (in September), are in constant contact. Cooperation between the two countries is very significant in this respect," Sanaei said.

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh may hold talks with his Russian counterpart  Alexander Novak in Vienna on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Nov. 30.

Novak told Reuters on Friday that Russia will produce 548 million tons (11 million barrels per day) of oil next year, a post-Soviet high, however Moscow still wants global producers to curb production amid weak prices.

Russia, the leading oil producer, expects OPEC to find common ground on capping oil production in the November regular meeting.

Before that, Novak will make several trips to the involved countries preparing the grounds for the OPEC-led initiative.

OPEC agreed on the sidelines of an energy conference last month to cut its collective output to around 32.5 million barrels per day from 33.39 million bpd in September.

The group is expected to thrash out the details of the agreement in its next meeting on November 30.