TEHRAN- Iranian Dana Energy Company and Austrian OMV Group inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on expansion of cooperation in oil and gas development projects, Shana reported on Wednesday.

The MOU was signed in OMV headquarters in Vienna on January 20 by Seyed Mostafa Khoee, the board member and exploration and production director of Dana Company, and Johann Pleininger, the executive board member and the person responsible for upstream (exploration and production) in OMV.

Representatives of OMV and some other leading energy companies of Austria in the meeting of Iran-Austria Joint Energy Committee in Tehran on December 10 expressed their willingness to participate in Iran’s energy projects.

OMV representative announced his company’s readiness for development of Band-e-Karkheh oil field in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan.

OMV has been present in Iran since 2001 when it implemented operations at the Mehr exploration basin in the western part of the country, which became the first contract of the company with Iran.

The Austrian Company earlier signed an MOU with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as it looked to revive its activities in Iran. The deal covered several areas ranging from oil and gas field evaluation to crude oil and petroleum product swaps.

OMV said in mid September that it had received 1 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in a spot delivery at the Italian port of Trieste which the energy group would send to its two refineries in Austria and Romania.

According to Reuters, The delivery was Iran's first to OMV since 2012, when sanctions were imposed on the country.

MA/MG