Global oil giant Shell has announced plans to repay its $2-billion oil debt to Iran, which it says it had been so far barred from paying due to western sanctions imposed against the country.

�Following the lifting of applicable EU and US sanctions, we can confirm that the process for paying Shell�s outstanding debt to the state-run company (NIOC) has started,� the media have quoted a Shell spokesperson as saying.

Analysts believe that the move would accordingly allow Shell to access the Iranian oil market. This is because Iran�s state oil company - the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) - has been working to recover its debt, as a precondition to start exporting oil to Shell.

The company�s outstanding debt to Iran is a result of Iranian oil deliveries which it had been unable to reimburse as a result of the sanctions.

Shell, along with its European peers, has also already showed a keen interest to return to the Iranian oil and gas projects. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant alongside BP, Total, and Statoil, sent a delegation to Tehran in November last year, to explore opportunities in the upstream sector of the country.

The company was involved in the development of Iran�s Soroush and Norouz oil fields in Persian Gulf waters.� It was also planning to develop a gas liquefaction project called Persian LNG in Iran�s South Pars energy zone. However, it later cancelled its plans to that effect as a result of the sanctions.

The sanctions - that were lifted in January - for multiple years imposed tight limits on Iran�s financial transactions with the world.� They also prevented companies from investing in the country�s energy projects among other restrictions.




�By Press TV