China, Iran sign $16 bln gas deal
Beijing (dpa) - China and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding worth more than $16 billion to develop a giant natural gas field, an Iranian diplomat in Beijing confirmed Friday, reported the China Daily.
According to Iranian media reports, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and the National Iranian Oil Company signed the agreement over the development of the North Pars gas field on Wednesday.
North Pars gas field, which is located 85 kilometres north of the giant South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, has an estimated 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
According to the Iran Daily, the project, which is one of the largest of its kind in Iran, would involve the development of the gas field in four phases. It is expected to take eight years to become operational.
The deal stipulated that gas from the field would be converted to liquefied natural gas and shared equally between Iran and China.
Chinese media quoted experts as saying that Iran wanted to demonstrate with the deal that international companies were willing to do business with it, despite the imminent threat of UN sanctions on account of its nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, Iran's ILNA press agency quoted Iran's oil minister as saying that talks between Iran and China on developing the Yadavarn oil field in Khuzestan province, in south-western Iran, was in its final stages. |
