TEHRAN Sept 14 (Shana) � Iran�s Petroleum University of Technology (PUT) in cooperation with Austria�s Montan University will carry out studies on improving oil recovery of Iran�s southwestern Gachsaran oil field.

�Research, development, and technology studies of Gachsaran field are the first priority for our bilateral cooperation. We plan to raise the field�s yield through a joint action,� Gerhard Thonhauser, head of Petroleum Engineering Department of Montan University, told Shana.

Referring to the role of modern and advanced technologies in the oil well stimulation projects, he said, the two academic centers will also exchange professors and grant fellowships to PhD students.

�The focus of our cooperation will be technological research on Gachsaran field�s recovery,� Thonhauser said on the sidelines of the visit of Austrian president to Tehran last week.

He said large number of major oil companies support such projects and are ready to invest in them.

�We are ready for extensive cooperation with Iran because we think they will bear results soon and bring about high profits for Iran and the investors,� he added.

Also OMV international oil and gas company has expressed readiness to cooperate with Iran in the area of oil wells stimulation shall the US-led sanctions are lifted, Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs and Commerce Amir-Hossein Zamani-Nia said.

�Using new technologies, OMV is ready to double production of Iran�s oil and gas fields through Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) methods,� he told Shana following a meeting between Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh and OMW CEO Rainer Seele in Tehran.

Last week, the Petroleum University of Technology (PUT) and Montan University signed a cooperation agreement with the objective to strengthen scientific and engineering ties during Austrian president�s state visit to Iran.

�The two academic centers will sign a bilateral technical proposal with the National Iranian South Oil Company according to which the contract will be carried out in Iran and Austria,� PUT President Abodolnabi Hashemi said.

The agreement foresees exchange of students, grant of fellowships and oil resources recovery, he added, saying in addition to exchange of instructors from next semester, students will be granted fellowships of 6 to 9 months.

�Moreover, the second reader of PhD dissertations will be exchanged between PUT and the Austrian university,� Hashemi said.

By SHANA