TEHRAN – The Belarusian Ambassador to Iran has declared his country’s readiness to buy Iranian oil regardless of the project to produce oil at Iranian Jofeir field.

“In near future, Belarusian specialists plan to begin the discussion with the Iranian side on issues of economic efficiency of such supplies,” Victor Rybak said, SHANA News Agency reported.
According to the Telegraf newspaper, Belarus will start oil production in Jofeir oilfield in October. The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will attend the opening ceremony.
Jofeir oilfield is located in Iran-Iraq border and is expected to produce 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 6.3 million cubic feet of natural gas based on initial estimations.
National Iranian Oil Company and Belarus National Oil Company Belarusneft signed a contract for development of Jofeir oilfield in September 2007.
Belarus said the crude from Jofeir would either be refined in Iran or simply extracted by Belarus and sold on world markets. It would be the first energy project abroad for Belarus.
In May 2009, Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko met former Vice Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran Reza Raei. Following this meeting, the Central Bank of Iran announced it will lend $212m to Belarus’ state-run firm Belarusneft for the development of the Jofeir oil field.