Iran, Belarus agree to develop Iranian oilfield
“During our recent visit to Belarus, we came to an agreement to develop Jofeir Oilfield, southern Iran,” the senior official said.
Hamaneh noted that a Belarusian oil delegation will visit Iran late February to prepare the Master Development Plan (MDP) on the field.
The managing director of Belarusian state oil company Belarusneft will head the delegation, he added.
According to the official, Tehran and Minsk have previously reached the agreement on the development of the field during a recent trip by the Belarusian first deputy prime minister to Iran. He elaborated, “In previous talks, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed for the development of two Iranian oilfields. Oil officials of Belarus conducted studies on the fields, and a final agreement was reached on Jofeir Oilfield.”
He added that Belarus is currently studying methods to finance the project. “Talks on this issue are expected to come to a result within the next couple of months,” he stated.
Hamaneh arrived in Minsk last Thursday on a two-day visit and meanwhile discussed with the Belarusian officials including the prime minister about the avenues for the exploration of mutual energy cooperation. On December 22, Interfax news agency quoted Belarusneft’s deputy general director for geology as saying, “Iran has proposed we analyze an oilfield,” adding, “We have partially studied them and selected the one seeming to be the most promising from our point of view.”
Located in Iran-Iraq border, Jofeir Oilfield will produce 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil based on initial estimations.
According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) already held negotiations with India Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) over the development of the field.
In return for buying 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran, India agreed to implement the expected production of 30,000 bpd crude from the field.