TEHRAN – An Iranian oil official has announced that since Royal Dutch Shell is the only foreign bidder for the development project of Kish gas field (in the Persian Gulf), Iran may skip the tender and directly enter negotiation with the Anglo-Dutch company.

According to Noureddin Shahnazizadeh, the managing director of Iran’s Petroleum Engineering Development Company (PEDEC), Shell has signed a six-month agreement with Iran, two months of it have already passed.

“The company is supposed to hand in the results of their studies on the field at the end of this six-month period,” he said.

Royal Dutch Shell signed an initial memorandum of understanding (MOU) with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in December 2016 to conduct development studies on three oil and gas fields in Iran.

Based on the MOU, the development studies on South Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields and Kish gas field was awarded to the Anglo-Dutch company.

EF/MA