Shell, Total Compete for South Pars Oil Contract
April 25, 1999 - 0:0
TEHRAN Royal Dutch Shell and a consortium led by France's Total are competing for the right to develop Iran's South Pars offshore oilfield, according to the Oslo-based oil weekly, Upstream. It quoted managing director of Oil and Gas Pars Company (OGPC), Assadollah Salehiforoz, saying Total had teamed up with Denmark's Maersk and Petro Iran, while Shell had put in a separate bid for the oilfield, which has a target output of 100,000 barrels Total, with Russia's Gazprom and Petronas of Malaysia, is already carrying out phases two and three of South Pars Gas field, while Shell has been heading negotiations to develop phases four and five of Iran's largest gas field.
Salehiforoz was quoted as saying that his company, which manages the oil project, was evaluating the technical documents submitted by these companies and would soon open the commercial bids. Upstream also said that it understood Petronas was interested in the tender and that an unnamed Norwegian company may also enter the contest. The OGPC managing director said the project was separated from last year's round of buy-back projects announced by the National Iranian Oil Company as the revenues from South Pars Oil would be used to develop the gas projects and field infrastructure.
Companies bidding for South Pars Oil suggested that negotiations were likely to drag on for several months. The Norwegian oil weekly also reported several bidders for the development of the prized Ahwaz-Bangestan reservoirs, including Shell, BP Amoco of the UK, Total and its French rival Elf, as well as Arco of the U.S. Quoting a Western oil executive, it suggested that Iran's next announcement of contract awards could be for bids for Soroush and Nowrooz projects, which again includes Shell bidding for both.
Meanwhile, at the Fourth International Exhibition of Oil, Gas and Petrochemistry, the Lasmo Oil Company's manager on Caspian Sea activities said, we have offered several proposals to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), to develop the oil fields of D Hoping that the contract to develop the oil fields will be sealed with the NIOC, he added that Lasmo Oil Company is well-experienced in this field and the said company expands off-shore oil fields with lower costs.
Further on, Andrew. A. Brown, a geophysicist of Lasmo company voiced his company's desire to be active in the oil-rich countries. He stated that based on our studies, existence of vast oil and gas resources in the Iranian side of the Caspian Sea is likely. The Azeri coasts of the Caspian Sea are rich in oil and gas, therefore, due to similar geographical formations, the possibility of the existence of these resources is high in the Iranian region of the Caspian Sea, Brown underlined.
Geological studies on the impact of the excavation activities on the environment have been on our agenda, he reiterated. He figured this year's June to be the starting point for the excavation activities in the Caspian Sea by Shell and Lasmo companies. The contract for discovery studies in the southern regions of the Caspian Sea, was sealed between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as one party, and Shell and Lasmo companies as the other parties, for a duration of 18 month.
Salehiforoz was quoted as saying that his company, which manages the oil project, was evaluating the technical documents submitted by these companies and would soon open the commercial bids. Upstream also said that it understood Petronas was interested in the tender and that an unnamed Norwegian company may also enter the contest. The OGPC managing director said the project was separated from last year's round of buy-back projects announced by the National Iranian Oil Company as the revenues from South Pars Oil would be used to develop the gas projects and field infrastructure.
Companies bidding for South Pars Oil suggested that negotiations were likely to drag on for several months. The Norwegian oil weekly also reported several bidders for the development of the prized Ahwaz-Bangestan reservoirs, including Shell, BP Amoco of the UK, Total and its French rival Elf, as well as Arco of the U.S. Quoting a Western oil executive, it suggested that Iran's next announcement of contract awards could be for bids for Soroush and Nowrooz projects, which again includes Shell bidding for both.
Meanwhile, at the Fourth International Exhibition of Oil, Gas and Petrochemistry, the Lasmo Oil Company's manager on Caspian Sea activities said, we have offered several proposals to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), to develop the oil fields of D Hoping that the contract to develop the oil fields will be sealed with the NIOC, he added that Lasmo Oil Company is well-experienced in this field and the said company expands off-shore oil fields with lower costs.
Further on, Andrew. A. Brown, a geophysicist of Lasmo company voiced his company's desire to be active in the oil-rich countries. He stated that based on our studies, existence of vast oil and gas resources in the Iranian side of the Caspian Sea is likely. The Azeri coasts of the Caspian Sea are rich in oil and gas, therefore, due to similar geographical formations, the possibility of the existence of these resources is high in the Iranian region of the Caspian Sea, Brown underlined.
Geological studies on the impact of the excavation activities on the environment have been on our agenda, he reiterated. He figured this year's June to be the starting point for the excavation activities in the Caspian Sea by Shell and Lasmo companies. The contract for discovery studies in the southern regions of the Caspian Sea, was sealed between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as one party, and Shell and Lasmo companies as the other parties, for a duration of 18 month.