Press TV- Iran says it may start negotiations with global energy giant Shell over the development of Kish gas field which holds the countrys largest reservoirs of natural gas after South Pars.
Noureddin Shahnazizadeh, the managing director of the Petroleum Development and Engineering Company (PEDEC), was quoted by the domestic media as saying that a planned tender over Kish might be scrapped because no other company had approached Iran over the project.
Shahnazizadeh told Irans IRNA news agency that Shell was already studying the field based on an agreement that it signed with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in December.
He added that the NIOC could accordingly enter into development talks with Shell which is to complete its studies over Kish by July.
The official whose company is a subsidiary of the NIOC and is in charge of the development of certain southern oil and gas fields further emphasized that an Iranian company had also voiced interest in providing the funding for the development of Kish gas field.
Kish gas field is located on Irans Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. With a reservoir of 70 trillion cubic feet, the field is expected to produce about four million barrels of condensate as well as nine billion cubic meters of natural gas once fully developed.
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Iran signed a basic agreement with Shell last December over studying the country's Kish gas field as well as South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields.[/caption]The basic agreement that was signed with Shell involved studying not only Kish field but also two other major Iranian oil projects South Azadegan and Yadavaran.
South Azadegan and Yadavaran are located in Irans southwestern oil-rich province of Khouzestan and already have an early production of 40,000 bpd and 85,000 bpd, respectively. Both are expected to boost Irans oil production capacity by above 600,000 bpd significantly once fully developed within the next three years.
Hans Nijkamp, the head of the department for Iran affairs at Royal Dutch Shell, told reporters after signing the agreement that it marked a new chapter in relations between Shell and Iran.
Nijkamp further said that Shell was determined to enter into a long-term cooperation with Iran, stressing that this could have significant positive impacts for both sides.
