Iran’s NIOC, Austria’s OMV Sign Cooperation Agreement
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Austrian oil and gas firm OMV penned a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in a bid to revive energy cooperation between the two countries.
"This Memorandum of Understanding is an important first step in resuming OMV's activities in Iran and in the long-term cooperation with the NIOC,” OMV Chief Executive Rainer Seele said Wednesday as cited by Reuters.
"We look forward to evaluating the opportunities of OMV in Iran and the cooperation with NIOC to evaluate whether there are areas of potential cooperation in the exploration and development of oil and gas," he added.
OMV's envisaged projects are located in the Zagros area in western Iran, including the Cheshmeh Khosh and Band-E-Karkheh fields where OMV had started operations in 2001, and the Fars field in the south, OMV said.
There has been growing enthusiasm for ties and cooperation with Iran after implementation of a final nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), which took effect on January 16.
The deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has terminated all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, reopened the doors of foreign investment to the country’s market, and prepared the ground for a much-anticipated economic boom.