Iran and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on expanding cooperation in the oil and gas industry during the 14th session of Iran-Russia Economic Commission held in Moscow on Tuesday.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Masoud Karbasian and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak who co-chaired the event, Shana, the Oil Ministry’s official news agency, reported.
The agreement, which has 38 clauses, urges bilateral negotiations and underlines the two countries’ strategic energy cooperation.
According to the MoU, Iran and Russia have agreed to collaborate in international energy events, boost technological and research relations between the two countries’ related ministries as well as state and private companies, and encourage the participation of Iranian and Russian firms in bilateral upstream, midstream and downstream projects.
The commission’s energy committee also called for expanding cooperation between the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company and Russian companies such as Zarubezhneft, Gazprom Neft, Tatneft and Lukoil, developing Iranian oil and gas fields and expediting the pace of talks on finalizing contracts, based on the new framework of oil deals, dubbed Iran Petroleum Contract.
The National Iranian Gas Company is due to accelerate procedures with Russia’s Gazprom, as they plan to cooperate in swapping oil and gas to export markets.
Representatives of Russian companies, present in the meeting, have expressed interest in playing a bigger role in building floating liquefied natural gas facilities in Iran and raising the extraction rate of oilfields by implementing enhanced and improved oil recovery (EOR/IOR) techniques.
Amirhossein Zamaninia, the deputy oil minister for international affairs who headed Iran’s team of negotiators, welcomed the Russian companies’ proposal on providing a portion of equipment needed in domestic projects by transferring European technology and participating in laying oil and gas transfer pipelines.
Reza Khayyamian, the head of the Society of Iranian Petroleum Industries Equipment Manufacturers, told IRNA last year that according to one of the requirements of the new contracts, whatever equipment that can be manufactured domestically should not be imported by foreign contractors, "otherwise, that would be a violation of IPC and they (foreign companies) will be fined".
The official claimed that IPC is the first Iranian oil contract that clearly stipulates a role for domestic oil and gas equipment manufacturers.
Tehran hopes to attract billions of dollars in foreign finance to drive its key oil and gas industry using IPC that was unveiled just weeks before sanctions against Iran's economic and energy sectors were lifted on Jan. 2016.
Eni, Gazprom, Wintershall, Schlumberger, Inpex Corp and Petronas are some of the big names hoping to secure a stake in Iran's energy industry.
