Press TV - Russian energy companies Zarubezhneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil have submitted plans to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to develop oil fields in Iran.

Zarubezhneft representatives outlined their plans to increase the recovery rate of oil from the Aban and West Paydar fields, Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum announced on Monday.

A memorandum of understanding for Zarubezhneft’s study of the two fields which are shared with Iraq was signed on July 22 last year.

The Russian company signed another MoU with the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) in July this year to conduct technical studies on the Shadegan and Rag Sefid fields.

Rag Sefid was discovered in 1964 and is estimated to hold 16.5 billion barrels of reserves. Production from Shadegan near Ahvaz started in 1988 and the field is currently producing 70,000 barrels of oil a day.

Last month, Turkey’s Unit International signed a $7 billion agreement with Zarubezhneft and Iran's Ghadir Investment Holding to explore oil and natural gas development opportunities in Iran.

Russian companies have signed a record number of oil and gas contracts with Iran since the lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic in early 2016.

Gazprom Neft has also submitted its plan to develop Changouleh and Cheshmeh Khosh fields under an MoU signed with NIOC in December last year.


[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak (2ndL) and Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh (3rdR) oversee the signing of an MoU in Tehran, Dec. 13, 2016.[/caption]
Located 80 km northwest of Dehloran city, the Changuleh oil field is situated in the northwestern part of the North Dezful basin in the Lorestan province.

Lukoil and Indonesia’s Pertamina individually proposed plans to develop the Bangestan reservoir of the Mansouri oil field southeast of Ahwaz.