Accompanied by ONGC Videsh Ltd Managing Director Narendra K Verma and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Chairman B Ashok, Pradhan's visit is aimed at engaging with leadership of the oil and gas rich nation that has just come out of international sanctions, PTI news agency reported.
This will be the first visit by an Indian minister since the US and western sanctions were lifted against Iran in January. Within days of that Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Tehran, signing 17 accords and agreeing to increase bilateral trade by more than tenfold to USD 600 billion in the next decade, said the report.
It said that New Delhi is looking to increase engagement with sanction- free Iran by raising oil imports and possible shipments of natural gas. It also wants rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf that was discovered by OVL.
Sources, however, said a deal for field may not be signed during Pradhan's visit as Iranian Parliament, Majlis, is yet to approve new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) under which the Farzad-B field is to be given to OVL-led consortium.
IPC ends two-decade old buyback system that prevented foreign companies from booking reserves or taking equity stakes in Iranian companies. Under some circumstances, the new model allows reserves to be booked, but foreign companies would still not own oilfields, according to the report.
By SHANA
# Tags
