India Says Not Notified by Iran about Gas Field Contract
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The managing director of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) said the company had received no communication from Iran regarding a $3 billion gas contract in the Persian Gulf.
“We have not received any communication from Iran on granting us the development rights (for Farzad B gas field),” N.K. Verma told Reuters on Monday.
The remark came after an Iranian official announced earlier that the country had agreed a USD 3 billion contract with a consortium of Indian companies to develop the Farzad B gas field in the Persian Gulf.
Saeed Hafezi, the director of Iran’s Falat Ghare oil company, said on Sunday that the lifting of anti-Tehran sanctions means the consortium can resume development of Farzad B.
Verma said that ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, had visited Iran recently and that, under the proposal submitted by the Indian companies, the first phase of development of the Farzad B gas field would cost around USD 3 billion.
The nuclear deal finalized in July between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) has raised prospects for the gas field that is estimated to hold initial in-place reserves of 12.5 trillion cubic feet, with a lifetime of 30 years.
