TEHRAN - Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji met with his counterparts from Iraq, Angola, Russia, and Venezuela in separate meetings on Saturday.

The meetings took place as part of the Iranian foreign minister’s negotiations on the sidelines of the 7th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit of Heads of State and Government.

In their meeting in the Algerian capital, Oji and the Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani discussed ways for increased cooperation on developing shared fields, trade of gas and oil products, payment methods, and development of infrastructure for trade of products.

They agreed to select one or two small shared fields for development projects and then gradually move to bigger fields. 

Iran ready to export technical engineering services to Angola

In a separate meeting with his Angolan counterpart Diamantino Azevedo, Oji voiced Tehran’s readiness to export techno-engineering services to Angola.

He said that Iran enjoys technical know-how for catalysts and exports them.

Discussing development of oil, gas fields with Russia

In another meeting, Oji and Nikolay Shulginov, Russia’s energy minister, reviewed the progress of existing agreements between Iran and Russia in the development of oil and gas fields.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from major Russian companies such as Zarubezhneft and Gazprom.

Central to their discussions was the potential establishment of a gas hub within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), spanning the Eurasian region.

The officials also discussed the possibility of signing new contracts to jointly develop oil and gas fields with Russian companies.

Tehran, Caracas stress deepening energy ties

Separately, the Iranian oil minister met with his Venezuelan counterpart, Pedro Talavera, during which the two underscored the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation in the oil trade, petroleum products, and petrochemicals.

They emphasized the need to follow up on existing contracts and exchanged views on how to overcome obstacles on the way of their execution.

Talavera praised the performance of Iranian companies in executing projects in Venezuela, including the development of the country’s main oil port of Jose and the reconstruction of the El Palito refinery.

The two sides also discussed the possibility of signing new contracts to further expand cooperation between Iran and Venezuela in the oil and gas industries.

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Photo: Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Oji (L) meets Russian counterpart Nikolay Shulginov (1st R) in Algeria on Saturday.