OMV Wrapping Up Talks on NIOC Settlement

The chief executive of Austrian energy group OMV, Rainer Seele, said on Thursday that talks with Iran's national oil company NIOC on settling outstanding claims which have hindered OMV from investing more in the country are almost finished.

"We are in the end phase of negotiations between NIOC and OMV, therefore I don't want to comment too much in detail. All I can say is we would like to finish these negotiations as early as possible," Seele said in a presentation broadcast online, Reuters reported. OMV has not disclosed how much it wants Iran to pay, but Seele has indicated it is a significant amount.

The NIOC said last week it was is in the final phase of talks with OMV to sign a contract to sell 40,000 barrels of oil per day to OMV in a deal that would help Tehran pay its outstanding debt to the oil and gas company.

"The Austrian giant had discovered an oil field in Iran but had not been paid for the exploration," said Ali Kardor, the chief executive officer of NIOC.

Walter Ondracek, OMV's head of assets for Middle East and Africa, said this week that his company is looking to learn more about Tehran's new style of oil contracts, dubbed as Iran Petroleum Contract.

"We can make an investment decision only when we really know what the framework and the conditions are," said the official on the sidelines of an oil exhibition in Tehran.